BIRMINGHAM City Council’s failure to settle the long-running bin workers’ strike has cost at least £33.4 million, a report has revealed.

The estimate by the authority’s director of finance Carol Culley is due to be presented to its cabinet tonight.

Unite said it is likely an underestimate, yet shows that resolving dispute fairly would have cost a fraction of the price.

The report identifies the following costs: £4.2m in lost income from bulky waste, commercial waste and paper, £4.4m in lost income from green waste and £10.2m in “street scene saving non-delivery.”

It also states that £14.6m has been spent in direct costs, including “street cleansing, mobile household waste and recycling centres, security costs and additional support.”

About £19.4m of the total costs are expected to be funded by the council cutting spending in other areas, putting additional pressure on other underfunded services.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “While council officials have been repeatedly refusing to engage in negotiations with Unite, the council has squandered millions of council taxpayers’ cash. 

“Costs are mounting every day. The council now needs to get in the room because these strikes will not end until there is fair deal for Birmingham’s bin workers.”

The union said that the “ballpark deal” agreed at the conciliation service Acas in May last year and then reneged upon by the council, would cost just a fraction of the millions wasted.

The deal was said to involve fair compensation payments for downgraded drivers and former WRCOs but was refused over concerns it would create new equal pay liabilities.

The council was contacted for comment.