Title

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Military planners sent to Brum amid bin strikes

Military planners have been called in to help tackle the backlog of rubbish in Birmingham that has built up during the ongoing strike.

© richardjohnson/Shutterstock

© richardjohnson/Shutterstock

Military planners have been called in to help tackle the backlog of rubbish in Birmingham that has built up during the ongoing strike.

The month-long strike by members of Unite has left thousands of tonnes of uncollected rubbish on the streets.

After a Government appeal to the Army, a small number of office-based planners will provide logistical support to help plan the clean up.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘The Government has already provided a number of staff to support the council with logistics and make sure the response on the ground is swift to address the associated public health risks.

‘In light of the ongoing public health risk, a small number of office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise have been made available to Birmingham City Council to further support in this area.'

Unite workers are set to vote on a deal to end the strike today.

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Cumberland using EFS to fund redundancies

By William Eichler | 21 August 2026

Cumberland Council is using £11.83m of rescheduled exceptional financial support (EFS) to fund a voluntary redundancy programme expected to cut between 300 a...

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

28 years later - lessons from Herefordshire's unitary journey

By Cllr Roger Phillips | 19 August 2026

Reflecting on Herefordshire Council’s reorganisation 28 years ago, leader Cllr Jonathan Lester and chairman Cllr Roger Phillips say experience suggests struc...

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Nobody ever voted for a map

By Ben Page | 17 August 2026

Rewiring the State offers the most significant shift in local government for a generation, but there is still a lot that has been left unwritten, says Ben Page.

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

As London's rough sleepers drop by 10% – can Burnham make that figure national?

By By Dan Peters | 13 August 2026

In his first speech after taking office, standing on the steps of Downing Street, Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to end rough sleeping.

Popular articles by William Eichler