Summary: Miss X complained that although she should receive assisted collections the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste despite collecting her neighbours’ waste. We found the repeated failures in the assisted collection service the Council provided to Miss X is fault. This fault has caused Miss X an injustice. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained that although she should receive assisted collections the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste despite collecting her neighbours’ waste.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
4. In January 2025 the Council’s waste 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. This has resulted in missed collections for a large proportion of the Council’s residents.
5. Miss X has complained of missed collections during the strike action but we have investigated her complaint as she appears to be affected more than most. Miss X should receive assisted collections which have been missed while her neighbour’s waste has been regularly collected during the strike action.
6. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. 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

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. The Council's general practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection. This practice has been amended during the industrial action.
11. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
12. Under normal circumstances 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. The Council has stopped actioning reports of missed collections during the industrial action.

What happened here

13. Miss X complains the Council has failed to collect her household waste since January 2025. Miss X should receive assisted collections but she says her bins are often missed when her neighbours’ are collected.
14. According to the Council’s records Miss X has reported seven missed collections since February 2025. The Council closed the first six of these reports without action because of the industrial action. It closed the most recent report of 24 October 2025 on 30 October 2025 when it collected the waste.
15. Other residents on Miss X’s street also reported missed collections in April and May 2025. These reports were also closed without action because of the industrial action.
16. Miss X made a formal complaint about the missed collections in April 2025. She complained there had been a complete failure of the assisted collection service since January 2025 while her neighbours’ bins were emptied as usual. Miss X questioned whether this was a form of discrimination and she was being denied a service because of her circumstances.
17. She was unable to dispose of waste herself and told the Council the smell from accumulated waste was unbearable and was affecting her health. It also attracted rats and flies and was now a hazard. Miss X said the situation was also affecting her mental health.
18. The Council responded the next day and apologised for any inconvenience caused. It said it had alerted the depot to Miss X’s concerns so they could ensure Miss X’s waste was collected.
19. Miss X was not satisfied by the Council’s response and asked for her complaint to be considered further. Miss X did not consider the Council had properly considered or addressed the impact of the missed collections on her wellbeing. She reiterated her household waste had not been collected since January 2025 despite crews visiting her street and collecting her neighbours’ waste. Miss X asked the Council to remove the accumulated waste immediately, make regular collections and compensate her for the prolonged lack of service. She also asked the Council to investigate why her collections were missed and her concerns regarding inequality and discrimination.
20. The Council responded in early May 2025 and again apologised for the disruption caused by the strike action. It said the depot manager was aware of the issues and had confirmed the crews had been given additional reminders to ensure collections were made.
21. As the missed collections continued, Miss X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate why her assisted collections were repeatedly missed.
22. In response to our enquiries the Council says there are two main ways it notifies collection crews of assisted collections on their routes. Firstly, assisted collections are shown on the crew’s tablets, and secondly, in case of technical issues with the tablet, the depot produces a hard copy of the assisted collection list which it gives to each crew.
23. This process is the same whether or not the crew are agency and has remained the same during the industrial action. The Council refers to the assisted collections as a priority service as they are deemed an essential service that will continue during industrial action as long as there is vehicle and staff availability to do so. However, there are no special arrangements for assisted collections such as individual rounds just for assisted collections.
24. The Council says it stopped investigating and actioning reports of missed collections in January 2025 as roads were being missed on a regular basis due to the industrial action. It says the depot was unaware of the problems with Miss X’s assisted collections. When the depot became aware in April 2025, a manager spoke to the driver of the round to ensure they were aware of Miss X’s assisted collection.
25. Miss X considers the Council’s failure to collect her waste, while continuing to collect her neighbours’ is a direct breach of its policy on assisted collections during the industrial action. She notes the Council’s website confirms assisted collections are a priority service and the assisted collection service will still be provided during the industrial action. She says this position is not qualified by staff or vehicle availability.
26. In addition Miss X remains disappointed the Council has not investigated her concerns about possible inequality and indirect discrimination as her neighbours’ bins were collected when hers were not.

Analysis

27. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Miss X’s household waste in line with its assisted collection service. These failings in the service amount to fault.
28. Details of Miss X’s assisted collections should appear on mobile technology within the collection vehicles and in the crew packs. It is therefore unclear why Miss X’s household waste was repeatedly missed when her neighbours’ waste was collected. All collection crews, whether they are the regular crew or a replacement crew, are provided with details of assisted collections on the route so the service should not have been impacted in this way by the industrial action. When crews attended Miss X’s road they should have collected Miss X’s household waste along with her neighbours’.
29. Having identified fault, I must consider whether this has caused Miss X a significant injustice. Although the Council states Miss X has reported a total of seven missed collections, I consider it likely the Council missed significantly more collections. Miss X’s complaints refer to missed collections not included on the Council’s log and consistently states that her household waste has not been collected since January 2025. Some of these missed collections may be due to the strike action and may have affected the whole street, but it is likely that on other occasions only Miss X was affected. I do not therefore consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections.
30. Miss X is unable to dispose of the waste herself and has had to find ways to manage the uncollected waste left at her property. The accumulated waste looks untidy, attracts rodents and causes unpleasant smells, all of which affect Miss X’s mental health and wellbeing. The failings in the service have also caused her worry and distress and mean she is treated less favourably than someone without a disability. Miss X has also experienced frustration and disappointment that despite her complaints and reporting of problems the missed collections continued. She has also been put to time and trouble in pursuing this matter.

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Action

31. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £300 in recognition of the worry, frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste collections has caused.
32. 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.
33. The Council should take this action with eight weeks of the final decision on his complaint and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman