Over the past few weeks we have been contacting candidates from Birmingham City Council to get their views on a number of environmental issues. We asked candidates how much they agreed or disagreed with 11 key environmental questions. The survey questions are as follows:

1. Birmingham City Council should introduce a sustainable food waste collection, rolled out to all households by 2019.

2. Birmingham City Council should aim for a recycling rate of at least 60% by 2020.

3. Birmingham’s waste must be dealt with as locally as possible through:

a greater number of household recycling centres

smaller waste management contracts with a preference for smaller companies

local community composting schemes

local anearobic digestion plants

4. Tyseley incinerator should be fully decomissioned by 2025.

5. Birmingham City Council should introduce solar panel installation scheme for schools across Birmingham, with dedicated funding and support for schools.

6. Birmingham City Council should divest from fossil fuels within 5 years.

7. Birmingham City Council should guarantee funding of £10 per head per year for cycling, irrespective of government grants.

8. I support a stronger local economy through the introduction of a Birmingham Pound.

9. Birmingham City Council should further support local biodiversity by reducing areas of ornamental grass on verges and in parks, and replace with wildflower meadows or food growing areas.

10. Planning guidance stating that green space designated for nature and/or food growing should be included in all new developments across Birmingham.

11. Birmingham City Council should introduce ‘Low Emission Zone’ to reduce unacceptable levels of air pollution, and act as a ring-fenced funding source for sustainable transport projects.

We contacted 96 council candidates in total and received 20 responses. Here are the number of responses by party:

Party Number emailed Number of responses Percentage who responded Conservative 20 2 10% Green 11 5 45% Labour 35 5 14% Liberal Democrat 12 4 25% Trade Union & Socialist Coalition 4 0 0% UKIP 14 3 21% Independent 1 1 100%

We’ve scored each candidate according to how much they agreed with the above survey questions. -2 for each strong disagreement, -1 for each disagreement, 0 for neither agreeing nor disagreeing, 1 for each agreement and 2 for each strong agreement. You can see the results by ward below:

Bartley Green

Billesley

Edgbaston

Harborne

Lozells & East Handsworth

Moseley & Kings Heath

Northfield

Oscott

Perry Barr

Selly Oak

Sheldon

Soho

Sutton Four Oaks

Sutton New Hall

Bartley Green

Party Labour UKIP Candidate Aaron Mansfield Grayhem Short Points 14 14 Q1 Strongly Agree Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q4 Agree Strongly Agree Q5 Agree Strongly Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Disagree Q8 Strongly Disagree Agree Q9 Neither agree nor disagree Strongly Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Agree Comments Bartley Green is in urgent need of a good clean-up. Residents tell me their concerns are being ignored by their councillors. Fly-tipping is rife, and rubbish is strewn across roads and gardens. Bartley Green reservoir should be a prominent and attractive

Billesley

Party Green Conservative Candidate Cheryl Buxton-Sait Steve Mee Points 22 20 Q1 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q4 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q5 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Agree Q8 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q9 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Comments

Edgbaston

Party UKIP Candidate Laura Brown Points 18 Q1 Agree Q2 Agree Q3 Agree Q4 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q5 Disagree Q6 Disagree Q7 Disagree Q8 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q9 Strongly Agree Q10 Agree Q11 Disagree Comments I think public transport is a key issue, we need to be making public transport cheaper and easier to use to reduce congestion on the roads.

Harborne

Party Green Labour Liberal Democrat Candidate Phil Simpson James McKay Phil Banting Points 20 11 3 Q1 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Q2 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Agree Q4 Strongly Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Q5 Strongly Agree Agree Strongly Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Q7 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Q8 Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Q9 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Q10 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Agree Q11 Agree Agree Agree Comments Concerning food waste collection (Q1): I would rather see promotion of home composting.

Lozells & East Handsworth

Party Labour Candidate Waseem Zaffar Points 12 Q1 Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Q4 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q5 Agree Q6 Agree Q7 Agree Q8 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q9 Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Q11 Agree Comments

Moseley & Kings Heath

Party Independent Candidate Luke Holland Points 20 Q1 Strongly Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Q4 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q5 Strongly Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Q8 Strongly Agree Q9 Strongly Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Comments

Northfield

Party Green Labour Candidate Anna Masters Robbie Lea Trengrouse Points 22 14 Q1 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Agree Q4 Strongly Agree Agree Q5 Strongly Agree Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Agree Q8 Strongly Agree Agree Q9 Strongly Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Q10 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Strongly Agree Comments

Oscott

Party Labour Candidate Keith Linnecor Points 9 Q1 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q2 Agree Q3 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q4 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q5 Strongly Agree Q6 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q7 Agree Q8 Agree Q9 Strongly Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Q11 Neither Agree nor Disagree Comments I am currently attempting to get the BCC to agree to introcuce solar panels on a local sealed off open space former tip. I would have agreed with some of the other issues but for the time frames involved. I wish

you luck with your campaigns.

Perry Barr

Party UKIP Candidate Charles Douglas Points 6 Q1 Agree Q2 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q3 Agree Q4 Disagree Q5 Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Q7 Disagree Q8 Strongly Agree Q9 Agree Q10 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q11 Neither Agree nor Disagree Comments Issues of regionalisation trouble me, as I believe there is an increasing trend in this regard. I find it bureaucratic and i believe this kind of initiative direcly leads to the break down of the overall national unity. There seems to be a blatant desire

Selly Oak

Party Liberal Democrat Candidate Colin Green Points 3 Q1 Agree Q2 Agree Q3 Agree Q4 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q5 Agree Q6 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q7 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q8 Disagree Q9 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q10 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q11 Neither Agree nor Disagree Comments

Sheldon

Party Liberal Democrat Candidate Paul Tilsley Points 5 Q1 Agree Q2 Agree Q3 Agree Q4 Disagree Q5 Agree Q6 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q7 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q8 Agree Q9 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q10 Neither Agree nor Disagree Q11 Agree Comments Target of reduction of 60% in his council

Soho

Party Green Candidate Margaret Okole Points 18 Q1 Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Q4 Strongly Agree Q5 Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Q8 Strongly Agree Q9 Agree Q10 Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Comments

Sutton Four Oaks

Party Green Candidate David Ratcliff Points 22 Q1 Strongly Agree Q2 Strongly Agree Q3 Strongly Agree Q4 Strongly Agree Q5 Strongly Agree Q6 Strongly Agree Q7 Strongly Agree Q8 Strongly Agree Q9 Strongly Agree Q10 Strongly Agree Q11 Strongly Agree Comments Contiue programme of external insulation of council properties

Sutton New Hall