![\"File](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Animal-car-breakdowns.jpg\")
File photo of a rat(Image: PA)<\/p>\nThe Birmingham bins strike heightened fears over rats as heaps of rubbish began to pile upFile photo of a rat(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Birmingham City Council has been urged to permanently scrap its controversial \u2018rat tax\u2019 charge after making a \u2018welcome\u2019 change during the bins strike.<\/p>\n
The crisis-hit authority\u2019s<\/a> unprecedented budget last year included plans to introduce new pest control charges for \u2018rat in garden and rat in house treatments’ – a service which was previously free.<\/p>\n It has since controversially risen to \u00a324 and then \u00a326.40 during the past year and a half.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Birmingham council leader warns ‘we won’t entertain it’ as he doubles down on bin strike<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The move proved deeply divisive, with one Conservative councillor at the time warning of a \u201cgolden decade for rats\u201d.<\/p>\n Fears over rodents have now gripped the city amid the ongoing bins strike, which left enormous mountains of rubbish just metres away from people\u2019s homes in certain parts of Birmingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since the city council declared a major incident, a number of measures have been taken to clear the huge backlog of waste blighting the city, including the extension of opening hours at the city\u2019s tips.<\/p>\n Another move likely to be welcomed by residents is that the Labour-run council\u2019s pest control charge for rats has recently been made temporarily free.<\/p>\n In response, Birmingham Local Conservatives welcomed the authority\u2019s \u201cbelated decision\u201d but went on to describe it as a “partial victory\u201d.<\/p>\n Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative<\/a> Group, argued: \u201cThe charge should never have been imposed and we call on the council to now go further and adopt our costed plan to scrap it permanently.<\/p>\n \u201cLabour’s rat tax hurts the least well off in the city the most and should be scrapped.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile Coun Adam Higgs described it as a \u201cshortsighted and unfair policy\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis temporary suspension is proof our campaign was justified but we won\u2019t stop until this charge is gone for good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Why was the \u2018rat tax\u2019 introduced?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sajeela Naseer, director of regulation and enforcement at the council, told a council meeting earlier this year that the charge was brought in because the delivery of the free service was costing the authority around \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously we\u2019re in a specific financial situation at the moment,\u201d she said. \u201cWe followed a lead that has been shown by other local authorities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n She went on to say that the council had been consulting on a new operating structure within pest control.<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas last year the pest control service was costing the council \u00a3400,000, it will now be of no cost to the council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe accept there are citizens who will no longer have that free service but we have done our best to mitigate against the impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n Treatments for rats in the house and garden previously remained free for council tenants.<\/p>\n As the \u2018rat tax\u2019 row continues, a full council meeting earlier this month saw a Birmingham councillor confirm she had quit the Labour Party<\/a> over the council’s pest control charge for rats.<\/p>\n Sam Forsyth, who represents Quinton, told the council chamber: “My opposition to the introduction of that charge is well-known.<\/p>\n “I oppose that charge and as of ten minutes ago, I am no longer a member of the Labour Party.”<\/p>\n The bins strike was triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite, with the union saying plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role would force \u201cdedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Waste](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2025-04-01-at-154904jpeg.jpg\")
Waste piles high in Balsall Heath, Birmingham on April 1 – the day after the city council declared a major incident(Image: Alexander Brock)<\/p>\n![\"Councillor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Sam-ForsythPNG.png\")
Councillor Sam Forsyth, who has quit the Labour Party, speaks during the full council meeting on April 8(Image: Birmingham City Council webcast portal)<\/p>\n