Suspension of city ‘rat tax’ welcomed

A Labour councillor who quit the party over a so-called “rat tax” in Birmingham has welcomed a decision to temporarily drop the charge for residents.

Councillor Sam Forsyth, who represents Quinton, left the party last week over the £24.60 charge to deal with the vermin, saying the rats were a public health issue during the city’s strike by bin workers.

Posting on Facebook, she highlighted a change to the council’s website stating the calls to deal with rats in the garden or house were now “temporarily free”.

The city council has been contacted for a response.

Waste continues to go uncollected in parts of the city as the all-out strike continues into its sixth week.

“I have said for months that charging people to get rid of rats from their homes during a bin strike was just wrong,” Forster, an independent councillor, posted.

“Good to see these charges removed.”

As the strike has rumbled on, an uneven way the clear up of mountains of bin bags is being carried out has highlighted how the problem is most stark in densely populated inner-city areas.

Wealthier, more sparsely populated parts have been far less affected by waste building up.