More than 1,000 aggressive beggars recorded in Birmingham

The number of aggressive begging cases in Birmingham has shot up by 26% from last year.

Birmingham councillors have received reports of organised gangs being dropped off in vans to target motorists stuck in traffic, amid other cases which could include modern day slavery.

There were 1,105 reports in April and October this year, compared with 872 in the same period in 2020.

There are calls for urgent action to deal with the issue.

Do the council have any examples of aggressive begging?

Councillor Mike Leddy said: “It seems whenever we have slow moving traffic, these people are out collecting money.

“I was going to One Stop in Perry Barr and a woman was walking up and down slow moving traffic collecting.

“I went into One Stop, came out and went to the city centre and guess what? The very same woman who had been collecting in Perry Barr was at Snow Hill collecting outside St Chad’s Cathedral.

“She couldn’t have walked from Perry Barr in the time I’d taken to get from Perry Barr.

“There is clearly something awry and something does need doing. It needs doing corporately. It is not just this committee, it is the whole of Birmingham City Council.

“We’ve got the Commonwealth Games coming to the city next summer and I certainly hope we have something in place throughout the whole of the Birmingham before we end up being ridiculed across the world as a begging city. That’s what we’ve become in a very short space of time.”

Is this modern day slavery?

Councillor Mike Sharpe said: “What really concerns me is that this is organised. I’ve seen people dropped off in vans and they’ve come from other areas. This is modern day slavery.

“This can’t be allowed to go on. Are the police going after the gang masters? I think the police constable needs to get in his car or go for a walk to see what’s happening at the traffic lights.”

Is there any action to deal with this in place already?

A report by Birmingham City Council’s community safety team said the Street Tasking Partnership Group (STPG) had been set up in October 2020 to address begging.

It added modern slavery and exploitation issues are monitored and work is carried out with partners to identify victims and ensure they receive the support they need.

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