• Birmingham Bin Strike Blues

    From Nick Odell@nickodell49@yahoo.ca to uk.legal.moderated on Thu Jan 8 19:12:15 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even
    if the Local Authority provide nothing in return so withholding
    Council Tax is a non-starter but the Birmingham Bin Strike has been
    going on for over a year now and under other legislation couldn't
    Birmingham residents sue their authority for their failures under the Environmental Protection Act 1990?

    Nick

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  • From Jethro_uk@jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Thu Jan 8 20:48:59 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:12:15 +0000, Nick Odell wrote:

    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even if
    the Local Authority provide nothing in return so withholding Council Tax
    is a non-starter but the Birmingham Bin Strike has been going on for
    over a year now and under other legislation couldn't Birmingham
    residents sue their authority for their failures under the Environmental Protection Act 1990?

    Nick

    To be fair our bins are being emptied.

    No matter what you put in them ....

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  • From Simon Parker@simonparkerulm@gmail.com to uk.legal.moderated on Fri Jan 9 10:25:54 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 08/01/2026 19:12, Nick Odell wrote:
    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even
    if the Local Authority provide nothing in return so withholding
    Council Tax is a non-starter but the Birmingham Bin Strike has been
    going on for over a year now and under other legislation couldn't
    Birmingham residents sue their authority for their failures under the Environmental Protection Act 1990?

    Theoretically, having first complained to Birmingham City Council and
    having failed to receive a suitable, adequate and satisfactory response
    to the complaint (which can take up to sixteen weeks), it should be
    possible to escalate the complaint to the Local Government and Social
    Care Ombudsman. I would suggest "maladministration causing injustice"
    as a broad ground for the head of the complaint.

    However, this is such an obvious course that I cannot believe that
    several residents have not already trodden it, in which case surely we
    would have heard about it?

    You could reach out to the LGO and see what they say prior to formally starting the process, (which, as noted above, is likely to take several months).

    Regards

    S.P.

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  • From Jethro_uk@jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Fri Jan 9 10:52:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Fri, 09 Jan 2026 10:25:54 +0000, Simon Parker wrote:

    However, this is such an obvious course that I cannot believe that
    several residents have not already trodden it, in which case surely we
    would have heard about it?

    Or perhaps they know that it will achieve the square root of eff all ?

    Worth noting that we've not had an election here for years. So even the
    old canard about voting out those responsible is a crock.

    And those resposible are well clear of the mess. Either on a nice pension
    or - more statistically likely - sipping tea with ther creator.

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  • From Nick Odell@nickodell49@yahoo.ca to uk.legal.moderated on Sat Jan 10 10:30:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:25:54 +0000, Simon Parker
    <simonparkerulm@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 08/01/2026 19:12, Nick Odell wrote:
    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even
    if the Local Authority provide nothing in return so withholding
    Council Tax is a non-starter but the Birmingham Bin Strike has been
    going on for over a year now and under other legislation couldn't
    Birmingham residents sue their authority for their failures under the
    Environmental Protection Act 1990?

    Theoretically, having first complained to Birmingham City Council and
    having failed to receive a suitable, adequate and satisfactory response
    to the complaint (which can take up to sixteen weeks), it should be
    possible to escalate the complaint to the Local Government and Social
    Care Ombudsman. I would suggest "maladministration causing injustice"
    as a broad ground for the head of the complaint.

    However, this is such an obvious course that I cannot believe that
    several residents have not already trodden it, in which case surely we
    would have heard about it?

    You could reach out to the LGO and see what they say prior to formally >starting the process, (which, as noted above, is likely to take several >months).

    I suspect there's a touch of the First World War "It'll all be over by Christmas" optimism involved here: who's going to initiate a process
    that's likely to be longer than the problem itself? Except it's not.

    Nick

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  • From Jethro_uk@jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sat Jan 10 11:47:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 10:30:55 +0000, Nick Odell wrote:

    On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:25:54 +0000, Simon Parker
    <simonparkerulm@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 08/01/2026 19:12, Nick Odell wrote:
    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even
    if the Local Authority provide nothing in return so withholding
    Council Tax is a non-starter but the Birmingham Bin Strike has been
    going on for over a year now and under other legislation couldn't
    Birmingham residents sue their authority for their failures under the
    Environmental Protection Act 1990?

    Theoretically, having first complained to Birmingham City Council and >>having failed to receive a suitable, adequate and satisfactory response
    to the complaint (which can take up to sixteen weeks), it should be >>possible to escalate the complaint to the Local Government and Social
    Care Ombudsman. I would suggest "maladministration causing injustice"
    as a broad ground for the head of the complaint.

    However, this is such an obvious course that I cannot believe that
    several residents have not already trodden it, in which case surely we >>would have heard about it?

    You could reach out to the LGO and see what they say prior to formally >>starting the process, (which, as noted above, is likely to take several >>months).

    I suspect there's a touch of the First World War "It'll all be over by Christmas" optimism involved here: who's going to initiate a process
    that's likely to be longer than the problem itself? Except it's not.

    No matter what energy people put into anything:

    - no one resposible will be disavantaged in anyway
    - not a single penny will ever go back to council *tax* payers. (Tax
    being extracted under threat of force).
    - the resolution will not happen a second earlier than had no energy been expended.


    That is very much the consensus on the community Whatsapp I am subscribed
    to.

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  • From Peter Johnson@peter@parksidewood.nospam to uk.legal.moderated on Sat Jan 10 15:52:03 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:12:15 +0000, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>
    wrote:

    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even
    if the Local Authority provide nothing in return ...

    Emptying your bins is not the only serviced provided by payment of
    council tax.

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  • From Jethro_uk@jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sat Jan 10 17:59:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 15:52:03 +0000, Peter Johnson wrote:

    On Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:12:15 +0000, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>
    wrote:

    Okay: I understand that paying Council Tax is a legal obligation even if >>the Local Authority provide nothing in return ...

    Emptying your bins is not the only serviced provided by payment of
    council tax.

    You point being ?

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