Labour councillor quits over pest control charges

A Birmingham councillor has quit the Labour Party over the city council's newly enforced "rat tax".

Councillor Sam Forsyth, who represents Quinton, told the council chamber she was leaving the party on Tuesday over the £24.60 pest control charges.

Rat control treatments were previously free to residents but charges were added to the authority's budget a year ago for "rat in garden and rat in house treatments" to help offset its financial crisis.

Birmingham City Council held its first full council meeting since a major incident was declared over the indefinite bin strikes in the city.

Forsyth told the BBC that the city's waste service needed to be more responsive - especially to vulnerable people living in the city.

Forsyth said: "Vulnerable people in Quinton, housebound people, need to have their rubbish collected reliably. I've been chasing collections since before the bin strikes began.

"I pleaded with the council not to introduce these charges in the middle of a strike - rats frighten people and they are a public health issue. It's not fair to the residents that have to put up with it."

Forsyth voted against last year's budget and spoke out against the charge earlier this year saying: "For what I hope are obvious reasons, nobody wishes to see this city overrun with rats."

Speaking to the chamber on Tuesday, she said: "My opposition to the introduction of that charge is well known.

"I oppose that charge and as of ten minutes ago, I am no longer a member of the Labour Party."

The pest control charge for rats remains free for Birmingham City Council tenants.

A council spokesperson previously said the charge is "far less" in comparison to the cost to deliver by neighbouring local authorities.

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