As Birmingham grapples with bin strikes and 'rats as big as cats', councils fear further cuts

In Birmingham, they say the rats are as big as cats.

Nine weeks into the bin strike that has bedevilled the city, the unions this week announced it would be indefinite without a settlement.

"It's horrendous," says Tim Huxtable, a Tory Birmingham City Council councillor. "Local residents feel it's really affecting their mental health, not knowing when their waste and recycling will be collected.

"It really is all-encompassing. And it's really getting everyone down."

Then he adds: "The only thing flourishing in Birmingham at the moment is our rats have become the size of cats."

Politics latest: PM demands 'military plans' for Ukraine

The roots of the strike are complex and multi-layered - Birmingham Council was declared bankrupt and ran out of money after equal pay judgements, but some blame the bin collection firms for contributing to the problem.

However, fixing the problem and ending the strikes means one clear solution: more cash.

Yet councils over the coming years are facing ever-tighter settlements. Although there was extra cash this year, rising costs are going to put councils under pressure in coming years.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said recently: "Overall then, 2025 will continue the trend of substantial above-inflation increases in funding for English councils.

"Unfortunately, their costs have also been outpacing inflation, and with a tighter outlook for funding from central government looming from 2026 onwards, tackling the demand and cost drivers impacting councils' budgets is becoming increasingly urgent."

Could that change?

Next Wednesday Rachel Reeves will decide the overall budgets for public expenditure in the spring statement for the next three years - already very tight.

But the tightest of self-imposed borrowing limits, promises not to raise most taxes and worsening global conditions mean things are likely to get worse.

From 2026, Ms Reeves pencilled in annual rises of 1.3% a year to public spending. But she needs to find savings in order to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules, so this could drop to 1.2% or 1.1%, just above the 1% the Tories had pencilled in. So no big handouts in the coming years are likely.

Ruth Curtice of the Resolution Foundation said it was going to be very tight.

"I think for next week, it's possible that she scrapes through - she manages to meet her commitments on borrowing, with the changes to welfare and some changes to spending totals.

"But bigger, picture the commitments that she's made to improve public services and to not raise the main rates of tax and to continue to meet her fiscal rules might come back to an irresolvable clash in future budgets."

Read more:
What you need to know about the spring statement
Starmer defends 'vital' benefit cuts

Exclusive polling for Sky News suggests the public is not impressed with what they've seen before but do not think she should splash the cash.

Straight after the election last July, 44% of the public said they felt this government was handling the economy badly, but this has jumped to 68% now.

Some 8% say Ms Reeves has been too cautious, while 43% say she has been too reckless.

I'm told the lack of cash ultimately means more manifesto pledges getting junked. Those discarded promises make it harder to look voters in the eye.

(c) Sky News 2025: As Birmingham grapples with bin strikes and 'rats as big as cats', councils fear further cuts