Talks to try to end the Birmingham bin strike that has seen piles of black rubbish bags fill the pavements of the city will resume today.

Mounds of waste remain uncollected, while residents have started to take matters into their own hands.

Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March, saying the “regrettable” move was taken in response to public health concerns, as picket lines were blocking depots and preventing waste vehicles from collecting rubbish.

The all-out strike started on 11 March, but waste collections have been disrupted since January.

Here is everything you need to know.

How long have workers been striking?

More than 350 workers of the Unite union began a series of walkouts in January and decided to escalate into indefinite strike action on 11 March, citing fear over further attacks on their jobs, pay and conditions.

The union has said that the removal of the role of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) role will leave about 150 workers £8,000 worse off – as the number of workers working on bin lorries will be reduced from four to three.

The council said it scrapped the WRCO role to put the city’s waste operations in line with national practice and to improve its waste collection service.

It said all workers have been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training or voluntary redundancy and that offer remains open.

Three military planners are understood to have been assigned to the city to provide logistical support to Birmingham’s council for a short period of time.

What are the impacts?

Normally, the city’s waste teams would make more than half a million collections in a week with 200 vehicles deployed over eight-hour daily shifts.

This has been reduced to just over 26,000 since the start of April, according to the latest council figures.

The cost of the ongoing clean-up could cause even more damage to the council, which effectively declared bankruptcy in 2023. One waste management agency told Sky News that totally clearing the backlog could cost more than £200m.

The strike has become one of the longest the UK has seen in recent years.

Back in 1978-79, the winter of discontent led to rubbish piling up on the streets of London, as the waste collection industry joined other trade unions in demanding larger pay rises in response to government caps.

More recently, more than 200 bin workers in the Wirral went on a week-long strike in 2022, eventually securing a 15% pay rise. In the same year, a similar dispute over pay saw rubbish pile up in Edinburgh during the city’s busy festival season.

Why is it taking so long to settle the dispute?

Unite, the union representing striking workers, and the city council have failed to reach an agreement since the strike began in March, with Unite holding firm on the strike action despite pressure from the government.

Members rejected the council’s latest offer on 14 April by 97% on 60% turnout, saying it was “totally inadequate” and did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.

The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham said the rejection was “no surprise” as “workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision”.

Meanwhile, the government and council said it was a “significantly improved” offer.

Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons on 22 April, communities minister Jim McMahon said “significant progress” had been made in dealing with the remaining tonnes of rubbish.

He said through “a concerted effort” and with the assistance of other councils, private operators and workers, 26,000 tonnes of excess waste had been removed, and the levels were “approaching normal”.

Council leader John Cotton told Sky News’ Midlands correspondent Lisa Dowd on 16 April that it “pains” him to see pictures of mounds of rubbish and rats feeding off the mess being broadcast around the world.

He said the only way for the normal waste collection schedule to resume was for the strike to end – but added the cash-strapped council has “red lines” that it will not cross during negotiations.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner visited the city on 10 April and urged the union to end the “misery and disruption” by accepting a pay deal.

How have residents been affected?

Mounting rubbish has led to residents complaining of a risk to public health, with rotting food attracting foxes, cockroaches and rats.

Rashid Campbell, a local resident who is part of a volunteer litter-picking team from the Birmingham Central Mosque, told Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell that 12 members of his team collected 24 bags of rubbish from two Birmingham streets on Easter Sunday.

“If we don’t [litter-pick], we’re just going to be drowning in rubbish,” he said.

Latifat Abdul Majed Isah said even in some places where bins have been taken away, the street remained “dirty, unpalatable and unpleasant to see”.

Joseph McHale, a rat-catcher from Vergo Pest Management, told Sky News at the beginning of April that discarded bin bags provide vermin with “somewhere to hide, somewhere to feed, somewhere to stay warm”.

He said his business had seen a 60% increase in people from Birmingham calling them for help.

By declaring a major incident, the council was able to free up an additional 35 vehicles and crews to clear rubbish and fly-tipping from the streets.

The limited number of waste trucks are deployed each morning from three depots across the city and cover multiple different routes.

Residents are also able to dispose of household general waste and bulky items at the council’s mobile household waste centres, without prebooking.

To recycle household items, locals are required to book a slot at one of the council’s household recycling centres.

Could it spread to other areas?

The union’s general secretary has warned the strikes could “absolutely” spread to other areas.

“If other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely, of course, we all have to take action in those other areas,” Sharon Graham told LBC.

The union’s national lead officer Onay Kasab agreed, telling BBC Four: “Well, if other local authorities look to cut the pay of essential public service workers, then there is the potential for strike action spreading.

“That’s why different political choices need to be made.”

Ms Graham also criticised the government, saying it had taken them “a huge amount of time to get involved in the dispute”.

With the death of Pope Francis, cardinals from around the world will soon gather in the Vatican to choose a new pontiff. Francis, of course, hailed from Argentina – but could the next pope be British?

It’s been 866 years since the papacy of Britain’s only ever pontiff (Pope Adrian IV) ended in 1159, and the history of the Catholic Church in the UK since then has been turbulent, with King Henry VIII perhaps the main culprit.

There are currently four British cardinals, three of whom are young enough to vote in the conclave.

And while none of them are considered odds-on favourites for the top job, it’s true that surprises do happen behind the shuttered doors of the secretive congregation of cardinals.

So who are the British cardinals, and could one of them be the next pope?

Head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, 79

Born in Crosby near Liverpool, as a child Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.

He has served as the Archbishop of Westminster since 2009, the most senior position in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Before that he was the Archbishop of Birmingham.

As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.

He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.

Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.

“He has quite a reputation,” says religious historian and writer Catherine Pepinster. “But I don’t think anybody has suggested he should be made pope.”

He himself has appeared to rule himself out of the running as well, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.

Read more:
Inside Vatican City at moment of high tension
Who will be at the Pope’s funeral – and who won’t be

The Francis ally
Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, 79

Born in London in 1945, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe entered the Dominican Order of preachers in 1965 and was ordained as a priest in 1971.

As Master of the Dominican Order – the first Englishman in its 800-year history – he was popular for his speeches around the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the modern world.

He was appointed cardinal just last year, on 7 December 2024, and is viewed as an ally of Pope Francis who could vote for a candidate who would continue his work.

He’s a popular figure, says Michael Walsh, an expert on Catholic issues, but his age likely rules him out from serious consideration, he added.

“Timothy Radcliffe is an interesting one,” says Ms Pepinster. “There are a lot of people who listen to what he says.

“He has a reputation for speaking very well so possibly (he could be considered), but he’s nearly 80.”

Like Cardinal Nichols, however, Cardinal Radcliffe appears to have confirmed he does not want the job, telling reporters he believed the Holy Spirit was “far too wise to even think of me (as pope) for the shortest moment”.

The diplomat
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, 87

Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019, Michael Fitzgerald has been one of the leading experts on Christian-Muslim relations and served as one of the Catholic Church’s delegates to the Arab League of nations.

His ministry saw him spend time in Africa and he was appointed titular archbishop of Nepte in Tunisia.

He is known for engaging with other faiths and wrote a booklet to help Catholics understand and support Muslims during Ramadan.

He also served as apostolic nuncio to Egypt, a diplomatic role similar to an ambassador.

At 87, he is too old to vote for the next pope but can still play a key role behind the scenes in discussions before the conclave starts.

It’s also not technically impossible for him to be elected pontiff himself, despite being too old to cast his own vote, though it isn’t likely.

The Vatican insider
Cardinal Arthur Roche, 75

Born in West Yorkshire in 1950, Cardinal Arthur Roche was ordained a priest at the age of 25 in the Diocese of Leeds.

Within the church, some have regarded him as a cleric who was being fast-tracked to hold high office.

His time as Bishop of Leeds was not without controversy, both for liturgical reasons and also for his programme of closures and mergers of churches in his diocese.

He has held various posts in the Vatican and was made an Archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, before being made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022.

Dr Walsh says that Cardinal Roche isn’t viewed as a “significant character”, while Ms Pepinster suggested that his tenure as a Vatican official could work against him when it comes to cardinals coming in from all over the world.

A British pope? Maybe not this time

“I don’t think there’s anything against having an English pope at all,” says Mr Walsh, when asked how Britain was viewed generally.

But with all four British cardinals now 75 or older, age may make them unlikely candidates to be pope, he said.

“I think they will look for someone younger,” he added.

There’s also a growing consensus that, like with Francis, the next pope should come from beyond Europe, Ms Pepinster added.

Many believe that, as the Church has expanded beyond its Catholic heartlands, the next pope should come from elsewhere.

However, Sky News understands there are whispers around the Vatican that suggest the next pope will indeed be from Europe, and likely from Italy.

Asked about the next pope, Cardinal Radcliffe said: “I think that we always open ourselves to be surprised. All recent popes have been quite different from each other.”

The family of a dog walker killed by a psychiatric patient say they have been ‘treated like dirt’ by the NHS after learning his attacker has been granted permission to leave hospital.

Lewis Stone was stabbed to death by David Fleet in a random attack in Borth, Wales, in 2019, shortly after Mr Fleet had been released into the community.

Mr Stone’s family were informed of the update to his care just hours after Sky News aired their first TV interview calling for an internal NHS Trust report into its handling of Fleet’s case to be released.

Mr Stone’s stepdaughter, Vicki Lindsay, told Sky News: “As victims, we have been treated disgracefully.

“We still do not know why the killer was released 10 days before he attacked Lewis, who made that decision and why, and who is going to be held accountable for it.

“But as if all that were not bad enough, only six years on, we now get to live knowing that the killer is now allowed out at night time.”

Ms Lindsay also told Sky’s Sarah-Jane Mee that “my biggest fear is that it’s going to happen again – I can’t sleep at night thinking about other families going through what we’ve gone through”.

Mr Fleet was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after admitting manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

He was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack and told psychiatrists that if he had not stabbed Mr Stone, the voices in his head “were going to kill him”.

Patients who have committed a mental health-related homicide can be granted permission to leave their hospital under Section 17 of the Mental Health Act.

It is considered part of the patient’s rehabilitation and preparation for eventual discharge.

What has the MoJ said?

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We understand this decision will be difficult for the Stone family, and our thoughts are with them.

“Any decision to approve access to the community is only made after a thorough risk assessment and with strict safeguards in place.”

The Hywel Dda health board says it does not intend to release an internal report into Fleet’s care.

Sharon Daniel, the interim executive director for nursing, quality and patient experience, said: “The duty of candour for patients came into force in Wales in April 2023.

“At the time of this incident and concern, we fulfilled our duties to be open.”

A senior NHS official has called the decision not to release the internal report “callous and uncaring”. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said: “On the face of it, this family has been failed multiple times over.

“Of course, there is a balance to be struck between the rights of the family and the rights of the person detained, but the basic lack of transparency and consideration here undermines the duty of candour.”

Freedom of Information requests made by the victim’s support organisation Hundred Families have found that nearly 400 people were killed by former mental health patients between 2018 and 2023.

However, this number is expected to be a significant underestimate as a quarter of NHS Mental Health Trusts refused to say how many of their patients went on to kill, as they don’t want to risk identifying offenders.

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Julian Hendy, who founded Hundred Families, said: “Unfortunately the family of Lewis Stone is not alone. There is a terrible lack of openness and transparency and that needs to change.

“The public needs to know that mental health services are keeping people safe and learning effectively when things go wrong.

“At the moment, by failing to share information the public cannot be reassured.”