Summary: Mr X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling as scheduled over a sustained period. He also complained the Council took three months to replace a damaged bin. We found the repeated failure to collect Mr X’s household waste and recycling is fault. As is the delay in providing a replacement bin. These faults led to an accumulation of waste which has caused Mr X inconvenience and stress. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling as scheduled over a sustained period. The missed collections often affect the whole street and have led to an accumulation of waste which residents have to manage and dispose of themselves.
2. Mr X also complained the Council took three months to replace a damaged bin.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X and Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

7. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to arrange for the collection of household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
8. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
9. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.
10. In January 2025 collection crews began industrial action. This began with specific strike days each week when waste would not be collected. Then from 11 March 2025 it became an all-out strike. The Council suspended recycling collections when industrial action began and then declared a major incident on 31 March 2025 to address the impact of the industrial action.

What happened here

11. Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling as scheduled since October 2023.
12. The Council’s records show Mr X reported 12 missed household waste and three missed recycling collections between October 2023 and February 2025. Mr X’s neighbours have also reported similar missed collections over the same period. The records note that almost all of these missed collections were due to the round being dropped due to operational issues.
13. In addition the Council’s records show Mr X reported his recycling bin was damaged and repeatedly requested a replacement.
14. In February 2024 Mr X contacted his local Councillors for assistance in obtaining a replacement recycling bin. He was unhappy that his initial request for a replacement bin, made in December 2023 was closed on 16 January 2024 even though he had not received a bin. Similarly, his request of 20 January 2024 was closed on 4 February 2024 without him receiving a replacement bin. He had now made a third request but was not confident it would be fulfilled. He asked the Councillors to assist in resolving the matter.
15. The Council told the Councillors that due to issues with the manufacturers and the spending cuts there was a long delay in the delivery of bins and recycling pods. It said that although Mr X’s request was showing as closed on its website, it was currently with the bin stores waiting to be actioned. The Council advised it could be a further six to eight weeks until a replacement was delivered.
16. Mr X was concerned about the number of duplicate requests generated because residents were not told that although their requested were marked as closed, the Council was waiting to action it. He asked the Councillor to investigate and for the Council to review its processes and carry out an audit of all requests to identify duplicates. He asserted this could reduce the backlog and save money.
17. As Mr X had still not received a replacement bin, his Councillors chased the Council for an update in early April 2024. Mr X received a replacement recycling bin on 9 April 2024.
18. Although Mr X was pleased to receive his bin, he remained concerned about the delays and the Council’s processes and discrepancies in the way officers handed requests for replacement bins. Mr X told the Councillors that another officer came to collect his broken bin on 1 May 2024, even though this was collected weeks earlier.
19. Mr X contacted his Councillors again in June 2024 to raise concerns about further missed collections. The Councillors raised it as a formal complaint with the Council.
20. The Council responded on 12 July 2024 and apologised for the poor level of service. It said it had made the manager aware of the issues and the crews had received additional reminders to ensure the collections were made as scheduled.
21. In October 2024 Mr X asked his Councillor to escalate his complaint as there had been further missed collections. The missed collections had again affected Mr X’s whole street.
22. The Council reviewed Mr X’s complaint and responded on 6 November 2025. It apologised that the problem remained unresolved and explained it was experiencing a high level of vehicle breakdowns. This along with restructuring the routes and staffing had impacted significantly on the scheduled collections. The Council said the depot was working hard to resolve this and measures were in place to ensure collections were made. It advised residents to leave their bins out and it would do everything possible to catch up any dropped roads as soon as possible. The Council apologised for the disruption and difficulty caused.
23. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked us to investigate his concerns. He is unhappy the Council has not implemented an effective remedy or long term solution to these issues. Mr X says the missed collections caused significant inconvenience and stress, particularly during the summer when he was recovering from surgery and could not lift or manage the waste.
24. In response to my enquiries the Council says the main reason for Mr X’s missed collections is dropped rounds due to operational difficulties. It says that where a round is dropped it aims to collect the dropped collection before the next scheduled collection. However, this is not always possible.
25. The Council says an assistant manager at the depot spoke with the collection crew in September 2024. They identified Mr X’s road was consistently dropped as it was at the end of the round and could not be completed due to capacity issues. The manager put measures in place to ensure the roads were rotated to try and ensure an improvement in collections.
26. Another reason for missed collections is the current industrial action. The Council says this has caused a major disruption. The Council has hired agency staff to cover the round since January but they are held up leaving the depot each day so there is less time to complete the rounds.
27. The Council has a process for responding to and monitoring missed collections. It will check the property history to ensure it is not a repeated missed address. If there are repeated missed collections this will be raised with an Assistant Manager so that they can talk to the crew to find out the cause of the missed collections. The depot will also prepare a reminder for the crew pack provided to the crew for the next scheduled collection date. Where there is staff and vehicle availability the Assistant Manager will also schedule a crew to collect the missed collection.
28. The Council says this process is not currently taking place due to the industrial action. Monitoring will recommence when the industrial action has ended. However, the Council has added Mr X’s property to the depot’s Hotlist. This is handed out to the crew on the day of collection and provided the depot have enough crews to service this round Mr X’s property will be prioritised for collection.
29. In addition, the Council says the delay in providing a replacement bin was due to manufacturing issues early last year at the factory that makes the bins and pods. It says this caused significant backlogs which got worse when the Council announced its plan to move to fortnightly collections.
30. The Council says it was unable to change manufacturers as it is the only company that makes the pods and bins that can fit on its collection vehicles. The manufacturing issues were resolved last year but there are issues clearing the backlog due to the number of orders across the city. Due to the backlog and the current industrial action the Council has stopped taking requests for additional or replacement bins.

Analysis

31. There is no dispute the Council has repeatedly failed to collect Mr X and his neighbours’ household waste and recycling since October 2023. These failings in service amount to fault.
32. The current industrial action will inevitably have exacerbated the problem. The industrial action also means the Council cannot currently speak to the collection crews or take action to address the problem.
33. However, the problem of missed collections clearly predates any industrial action and I would have expected the Council to have identified the issue and taken action to address it sooner. The Council has a process for identifying and addressing recurring missed collections but it does not appear to have followed it in this instance. The number of missed collections reported by Mr X and his neighbours should have highlighted the problem and prompted the Council to take action.
34. I recognise the Council has operational difficulties with staffing issues and vehicle breakdowns, but this has been the case for a number of years. Given the apparent regularity with which Mr X’s road is dropped I would have expected the Council investigate why this road was particularly affected and take effective action to address this. The Council says a manager spoke to the crew and put measures in place September 2024 to ensure there were more regular collections. However, this does not appear to have been effective as the records show the Council missed Mr X’s household waste collection three times in October 2024 because staff ran out of time.
35. There was also a delay in providing a replacement bin. While this was due to manufacturing issues outside of the Council’s control we still consider this to be a service failure.
36. Mr X is concerned about the Council’s processes which he believes can lead to duplicate requests for new or replacement bins and inflate the backlog. The Council says its system automatically closes requests after 28 days on a resident's online account. However the request remains open on its system until it is manually closed by an officer when the bin has been delivered. It says it has looked into changing the automatic feature but is unable to turn this off on the resident’s online account.
37. The Council says it is taking action to address the shortcomings in the waste collection service. Its Street Scene Transformation Programme includes the procurement of new refuse collection and recycling vehicles; purchasing an updated, replacement IT system; and procuring food waste vehicles and containers. This is to be welcomed.
38. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mr X an injustice. As the missed collections affect the whole street Mr X has not only had to manage his own uncollected household waste and recycling, but he has also had to endure large amounts of uncollected waste on his street
39. He has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mr X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
40. I consider the Council should apologise and make a symbolic payment to recognise the injustice caused to Mr X.
41. Given the current industrial action is it not appropriate to make recommendations regarding service improvements.

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Action

42. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £250 to recognise the frustration, and difficulties the failure to make regular household waste and recycling collections over a sustained period, and the delay in providing a replacement bin has caused.
43. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
44. The Council should take this action within eight weeks of the final decision on this complaint and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

45. I find fault causing injustice. The Council will take actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman