Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste containers which service her block of flats. This has led to an accumulation of waste which Mrs X has had to hire skips to dispose of at her own expense. We found the Council’s repeated failure to collect the communal waste over a sustained period is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X frustration, difficulties, and financial expense. The Council will apologise and make payments to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste containers which service her block of flats over a sustained period. This has led to an accumulation of waste which Mrs X has had to hire a skip to dispose of at her own expense.
2. Mrs X’s local Councillor, Mr Y is assisting Mrs X in making this complaint.

Back to top

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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

6. Mrs X has experienced problems with the waste collection service for over two years but I have not investigated this full period. As set out above, we expect people to contact us within 12 months of them thinking the Council has done something wrong. Mr Y raised Mrs X’s concerns with the Ombudsman in January 2025 so my investigation focuses on events since January 2024.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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

12. Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste for her block of flats on the scheduled collection days for over two years. Following a previous complaint in 2023 the service improved for a period but has since deteriorated. When collections are missed, the waste is not then collected in a timely manner.
13. According to the Council’s records Mr and Mrs X have reported 27 missed household waste collections and four missed recycling collections since January 2024. All reports from prior to the industrial action are 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. The records show Mr and Mrs X reported missed collections on 7 June, 30 June and 7 July 2024 and that all of these reports were closed on 12 July 2024. Given there should be twice weekly collections, it is unclear why the Council could not close these reports earlier. The length of time taken to close the reports suggests there were other missed collections.
15. Similarly, Mr and Mrs X reported missed four missed collections in September 2024 and a further four in October 2024. All of these reports were closed on 11 November 2024. Again this calls into question the accuracy of the Council’s records and whether there were further missed collections not included in the Council’s log.
16. In addition to reporting missed collections, in October 2024 Mrs X also made a formal complaint about the continual missed collections. She complained the Council had currently missed three consecutive collections. As a result the bins were overflowing and the waste chutes were blocked. She considered this a health and a fire risk and asked that the bins were emptied regularly.
17. Mr X also asked Mr Y to assist in resolving the problem. He said they had now hired a skip to try and clear some of the waste and keep the chutes clear as they were concerned it was a fire hazard. Mr X felt the situation was unacceptable and was causing them a high level of stress and anxiety. Mr Y contacted the Council on their behalf.
18. The Council’s response to the complaint apologised for the poor level of service. It said the manager was aware of the issues and had given crews additional reminders to ensure collections were made as scheduled. The Council anticipated this would improve the service going forward.
19. As the service did not improve, Mrs X asked for her complaint to be considered further. The Council responded in early December 2024 and apologised that the service had not improved. It noted collections were scheduled twice weekly and that it had become more difficult to access the bins since the introduction of later start times for the collection crews. The Council said that since Mrs X’s initial complaint the crews had been able to collect at least once week and would collect the waste again on 10 December 2024. It assured Mrs X it was doing everything it could to resolve the matter.
20. Mrs X was disappointed the Council had not offered a solution to the problem. She also disputed the Council’s explanation for the missed collections. Mrs X told the Council that her CCTV showed the collection crew had not attended the area on the days/ times of the missed collections. She suggested the Council could use the vehicle trackers to verify this.
21. The following week Mrs X contacted the Council again as although the crew had emptied the bins on 10 December 2024, they had missed the collection scheduled for 13 December 2024. Mrs X provided a photograph of the road taken just before 8 am which showed there were no access issues.
22. Mr Y has asked the Ombudsman to investigate Mrs X’s concerns. In response to my enquiries the Council says it has not monitored Mrs X’s waste collections to identify any recurring problems. It is not currently monitoring reports of missed collections due to the industrial action but will recommence when the industrial action ends.
23. The Council says it is unable to comment on what caused the missed collections as the driver and crew are involved in the industrial action. However, it again suggests the later start times introduced in 2024 are a potential cause of missed collections.
24. The Council’s records show a manager spoke with the collection crew in October 2024. The crew advised that since moving to the later start times it had become more difficult to collect the waste due to traffic on the road. Collection times for Mrs X’s block of flats had moved from around 6am to 8am. The manager had asked the crew to provide photographic evidence if they were unable to access and collect the waste.
25. I have not received any record the crew subsequently provided evidence of any issues.

Analysis

26. It is clear from the information available that the Council has repeatedly failed to collect Mrs X and her neighbours’ waste since January 2024. These failings in service amount to fault.
27. There are inconsistencies in the Council’s records and I do not consider them to be a reliable reflection of the full extent of the missed collections, or when the Council actually collected the waste. It is however clear there have been a substantial number of missed collections.
28. 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.
29. However, the problem of missed collections significantly predates any industrial action. It is concerning that the Council appears to have accepted that although there should have been twice weekly collections, the crew were routinely only collecting the waste once a week. There is no evidence it has sought to proactively address this. A manager asked the crew for photographic evidence of anything that prevented them making the collections in October 2024. But this does not appear to have been followed up.
30. There were numerous missed collections between October 2024 and the start of the industrial action, but I have not received any evidence to show they were due to access issues. Nor is there any evidence the Council sought to identify another explanation for the missed collections.
31. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. As the missed collections affected the whole block of flats Mrs 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 health and safety concerns over a sustained period of time. The level of consecutive missed collections led Mrs X to incur the cost of hiring a skip to remove some of the accumulated waste.
32. 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.
33. I consider the Council should apologise, reimburse the cost of the skip and make a symbolic payment to recognise the injustice caused to Mrs X.
34. Given the current industrial action is it not appropriate to make recommendations regarding service improvements.

Back to top

Action

35. The Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Mrs X for the failure to make regular communal waste collections over a sustained period and the difficulties this has caused. 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.
• pay Mrs X £300 to recognise the frustration, and difficulties the failure to make regular communal waste collections over a sustained period has caused.
• reimburse Mrs X £168 for the cost of the skip required to remove some of the uncollected waste.
36. 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.

Back to top

Decision

37. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman