Summary: Miss X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to empty the communal waste bins that service her block of flats as scheduled. This led to an accumulation of waste which makes the area looks untidy, causes unpleasant smells, and attracts rodents. We found the Council’s repeated failure to collect the communal waste is fault. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to empty the communal waste bins that service her block of flats as scheduled since July 2024. This led to an accumulation of waste which makes the area looks untidy, causes unpleasant smells, and attracts rodents.
2. Miss X also complained that despite assurances it would, the Council has failed to remove a broken container and replace it with a new one. The broken container cannot be wheeled to the collection vehicle, so the Council has not emptied it for months which exacerbates the problem.

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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 Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the 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. Miss X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste for her block of flats on the scheduled collection days since July 2024. When collections are missed, the waste is not then collected in a timely manner.
12. The Council’s records show Miss X reported 16 missed household waste collections between July 2024 and January 2025. Miss X’s neighbours have also reported similar missed collections over the same period.
13. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the Council made the collections before or at the next collection.
14. In addition the Council’s records show Miss X reported that the collection crew had damaged one of the communal bins during a collection.
15. Miss X made a formal complaint about the missed collections in August 2024. She complained the Council had not collected the bins for six weeks so the communal bins were overflowing. Miss X said the storage area was a hazard and environmental concern as it was infested with maggots and animals had torn open the bags of waste. She asked the Council to collect the waste.
16. Miss X chased the Council the following week as it had missed a further collection. She provided photographs of the accumulated waste and told the Council she could not open the windows to her flat due to the smell and the flies. This was affecting her mental health.
17. The Council responded on 2 September 2024 and apologised for the inconvenience caused by the missed collections. It advised the depot would speak with the collection crew to ensure the waste was collected. The Council also noted it had collected the waste on 23 and 30 August 2024.
18. Miss X disputed the collections had been made on 23 and 30 August 2024 and said there had been no collections for the last 9 weeks. She then contacted the Council again the following week following a further missed collection. The Council apologised for the poor service and said it would arrange to collect the waste.
19. On 27 September 2024 Miss X told the Council the crew had now emptied the bins but had not taken the accumulated excess waste or returned the bins to the storage point. She asked for her complaint to be considered further. Miss X subsequently told the Council the crew had broken one of the bins. The housing association had now arranged to collect the excess waste, but rather than remove it had put it in the empty containers so they were now full. Miss X was concerned residents would be charged by the housing association for clearing any excess waste.
20. The Council reviewed Miss X’s complaint and responded on 21 October 2024. It apologised that the matter remained unresolved and advised a manager would speak to crews to ensure they made the collections as scheduled. It anticipated this would improve the service going forward. The Council also confirmed it had ordered a new container to replace the damaged one.
21. Miss X contacted the Council again on 30 October 2024 as the issue had not been resolved and a further collection had been missed. She also contacted her MP who wrote to the Council on her behalf in early November 2024.
22. As the missed collections continued Miss X contacted the Council again in November and December 2024. The Council confirmed it would add Miss X’s address to its hotlist and monitor her collections. It also explained operational issues were impacting Friday collections and said it would ask the depot to empty the bins as soon as possible.
23. Miss X contacted the Council again in January 2025 as she could not see a way forward. The bins were still not being collected. Miss X noted two members of the collection crew came out in December 2024 and cleared the excess waste. As they were doing so, rats ran out from the bins. Miss X says the residents have had to deal with the rats for months. Although the excess was collected, as the containers have not been emptied they are still full, and residents have no choice but to put bin bags on the floor.
24. The records show Miss X contacted the Council again the following month as the problem had still not been resolved. One of the containers had now been emptied, but the other was still full as the broken wheel meant the crew could not wheel it to the collection vehicle. Miss X asked the Council what would happen now.
25. The Council apologised that collections were not taking place. It said the industrial action was impacting collections. The Council also said it had asked for the broken bin to be exchanged, but that it would need to be emptied for this to take place. In March 2025 Miss X noted they were still experiencing the same issues and the bin had not been collected. She was concerned that there was months’ worth of rotting waste in the container
26. According to the Council’s records, a depot manager said they would collect the broken bin on 15 March 2025. Residents would then need to use refuse sacks until they got a replacement bin. This collection did not take place. The manager then confirmed in April 2025 they would arrange for a vehicle to remove the container and the waste.
27. Miss X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her concerns. She is frustrated that despite repeatedly reporting the problem it has not been resolved. The problem has attracted rodents and foxes and cats have ripped open the bags of excess waste. The waste also smells and in the warm weather was covered in flies.
28. In response to my enquiries the Council says there are several reasons for the repeated failure to collect Miss X’s recycling over a sustained period. These include:
• Difficulty accessing the bin stores due to parked cars, combined with the fact the bin store is not situated in the ideal location. The Council says this was identified as an issue in October 2022.
• The depot faced operational issues last year with vehicle and staffing problems. It says these operational issues significantly impacted on Friday collections. Miss X’s collections are scheduled for a Friday.
• Industrial action has caused a major disruption. The collection crews are prevented from leaving the depot so collections have not been able to happen on collection days.
29. In addition, as one of the containers is broken, the waste cannot be collected as the container cannot be moved due to the broken wheel. The Council says it told Miss X the container needed to be emptied in order to remove it, but that residents continued to put waste in the broken container. It says that as a gesture of goodwill due to the collection issues the residents have faced, the Council will remove the container and waste contents when a vehicle and staff are available to do so. It notes that the residents may then have to wait a couple of weeks for a new container. The Council says it is unable to give a timeframe because of the industrial action.
30. 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.
31. 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 Miss 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 Miss X’s property will be prioritised for collection.

Analysis

32. It is clear from the information available that the Council has repeatedly failed to collect Miss X and her neighbours’ waste since July 2024. These failings in service amount to fault.
33. It is concerning that the Council appears to have closed the reports of missed collections when it had not collected the waste. Miss X complains about weeks and then months’ worth of uncollected waste accumulating following missed collections that had still not been made. I do not therefore consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections, or when it actually collected the waste.
34. 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.
35. 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 Miss X and her neighbours should have highlighted the problem and prompted the Council to take action.
36. The Council has been aware since late September 2024 that one of the containers servicing Miss X’s block of flats was broken and could not be moved. There has been a significant delay both in removing the broken bin and providing a replacement. This delay is fault.
37. The Council appeared to suggest Miss X and the other residents would need to empty the broken container before it could be removed. This is curious given that this situation has arisen because of the Council’s failure to collect the waste and the damage to the container was caused by the collection crew. It is not the case that residents repeatedly filled the broken container each time it was emptied. Rather that the container was full because it had not been emptied for months. In these circumstances would not expect the onus to be on the residents to remove the accumulated waste which had been rotting in the container since October 2024.
38. The Council has now agreed to remove the broken container and the waste. This is to be welcomed, but I consider the Council should have taken this action sooner. It should also now provide a replacement container without further delay.
39. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Miss X an injustice. As the missed collections affected the whole block of flats Miss X has not only had to manage her own uncollected waste, but she has also had to endure large amounts of uncollected waste and the associated problems of smells and vermin over a sustained period of time.
40. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Miss X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
41. I consider the Council should apologise and make a symbolic payment to recognise the injustice caused to Miss X.
42. Given the current industrial action is it not appropriate to make recommendations regarding service improvements.

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Action

43. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £300 to recognise the frustration, and difficulties the failure to make regular communal waste collections over a sustained period has caused.
44. 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.
45. 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

46. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to 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