The Birmingham bin dispute has moved close to ending after the city council increased settlement offers to striking  workers to £3,500 - but councillors claim 'it is still an astonishing mess'.

It has prompted immediate criticism from one opposition councillor that the unions and refuse workers have the Labour-run authority 'over a barrel' while another argued the proposed payments opened up the risk of discrimination claims from all other council staff.

In another significant development it was revealed the waste service could now be in line for major shake-up with an independent review being commissioned.

The cabinet met this morning to note the progress that had been made in peace talks with Unite and Unison up until yesterday (Thursday, March 7).

Issues over the city's bin collections have been ongoing since 2017

But it was ruled they had not had enough time to formally approve the proposed settlements - that is now expected to take place at a further cabinet meeting next Friday (March 15).

Temporary fortnightly collections will remain for at least one more week.

It comes after Unite, whose 300-plus workers are leading the strike over the 'secret payments' row, hailed a 'breakthrough' in talks with the council and agreed to suspend strike action today.

The £3,500 settlement now being offered to claimants is thought to be broadly the same as the sums paid to most GMB workers who did not strike in the 2017 dispute over proposed job cuts.

Unite say those payments 'blacklisted' their members for lawfully striking at the time, while the council claimed they failed to consult with GMB over the deal which ended that dispute.

Cllr Brett O'Reilly (Lab, Longbridge and West Heath), clean streets, waste and recycling chief, said: "I welcome the fact the industrial action has been suspended for today and moving forward.

"I would very much hope that this is the start of the conclusion of the industrial action, and we can have the dispute resolved and deliver the service the people of Birmingham want and need."

Household rubbish begins to pile high on the streets of Alum Rock in Birmingham during the 2017 strike

Echoing the sentiment council leader Ian Ward (Lab, Shard End) said the settlements would 'lay the foundation for improvement' adding that the independent review would take a 'long, hard look' at how the waste service is run.

Cllr Jon Hunt ( Perry Barr ), leader of the Liberal Democrat group, drew particular attention to the council's recent defeat in the High Court in its party-dividing attempt to stop the strike with an injunction.

He said: "What a sad situation we are in.

"The council has twice been faced down with strike action by the unions, it's twice lost in the courts of law and frankly it's created a desperate situation.

"It's a shame that it took so long for this cabinet to decide to go along with legal action.

Video Loading

"It is quite clear the unions and the waste crews have got this council over a barrel, the council seem incapable of settling any industrial action except by losing, and except by effectively handing out money to the unions."

Cllr Rob Alden ( Erdington ), leader of the Conservative group, similarly accused the council of 'capitulating' and said: "Here we are 690 days since the first industrial action got started around the bins service, and it is still an astonishing mess the council finds itself in, yet again having to pay out to unions."

He raised a raft of questions about the latest proposals in particular the breakdown of the settlement; £3,000 for 'valid' individual claimants and a further £500 for workers who were Unite or Unison members on the date the respective unions balloted for industrial action (December 14 for Unite and December 17 for Unison).

Cllr Alden said: "People who weren't even working for the council at the time of the previous dispute are going to get a payment, that clearly raises some serious issues, because clearly that could risk the council being caught open to a case around discrimination."

Although his claim was dismissed by Cllr Ward.

Next week's cabinet report is due to provide a full risk assessment and details for legal, financial and human resources implications of making the revised settlements.

Yesterday Howard Beckett, assistant general secretary for Unite, said: “The heads of settlement is a real breakthrough in negotiations.

“For the first time there is a deal on the table which meets Unite’s members expectations."

A Unison spokesman added: “UNISON, like our sister union Unite with whom we have stood shoulder to shoulder throughout this dispute, has also suspended today’s planned strike action. This is in the expectation of the same just settlement for our members.”