Summary: Mrs X complained that although she should receive assisted collections the Council repeatedly failed to collect her household waste while collecting her neighbours’. Mrs X also complained that when her bin was emptied the collection crew did not return it to her property. We found the Council’s repeated failed to collect Mrs X’s household waste and return her bin in line with its assisted collection service is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mrs X and it will monitor her collections.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste despite collecting her neighbours’ waste.
2. Mrs X also complained that when the Council does collect her waste the collection crew do not always return her bin to her property. She says her bin is left on the pavement and she is unable to move it herself.

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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 recommend 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. 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.
6. Mrs 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. Mrs X should receive assisted collections which have been missed while her neighbour’s waste has been regularly collected during the strike action.
7. 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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What I have and have not investigated

8. Mrs X says there have been issues with her assisted collections for many years however we will not investigate events going back that far. We expect people to come to us within 12 months of them thinking the Council has done something wrong. As Mrs X contacted the Ombudsman in November 2025, we will only consider events since November 2024.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Mrs 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

11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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 stopped actioning reports of missed collections during the industrial action.

What happened here

15. Mrs X says there have been problems with her waste collections since they registered for assisted collections. She complains the Council has repeatedly failed to empty her bins while emptying her neighbours’ bins both prior to and during the industrial action.
16. When her bin is emptied the crew often leave it by the kerb or on her drive rather than return the bin to its collection point. Mrs X is unable to move the bin herself and has to rely on others for assistance.
17. The Council’s records show Mrs X has reported 27 missed collections since November 2024. A number of these were consecutive missed collections. The records also show other residents on Mrs X’s street reported one missed collection in 2025 and three in 2026.
18. In addition to reporting missed collections Mrs X also made numerous complaints about the assisted collection service. On 1 April 2025 Mrs X complained her waste had not been collected for five weeks and there was now a large accumulation of waste which Mrs X could not store or move. She was concerned this was unsanitary and would lead to serious health problems. Mrs X complained the Council’s website referred to assisted collections as priority collections but her waste was not being collected.
19. The Council told Mrs X it had escalated the matter to the depot to clear the waste. And confirmed it would investigate her complaint.
20. Mrs X raised further complaints in late April and May 2025 about her bin not being returned and missed collections. In early June 2025 Mrs X told the Council her husband had fallen trying to return the bin to their property.
21. Mrs X complained again on 28 June 2025. She said the crew had again passed her house that morning while collecting her neighbours’ waste and had ignored her calls to take their rubbish. She was unhappy that despite repeated complaints the problem was still not resolved. Mrs X asked the Council to properly investigate her complaint and put measures in place to ensure her bins were emptied.
22. The Council responded on 1 July 2025 and said it was unable to deal with Mrs X’s complaint due to the industrial action. It said it had made the depot aware of the complaint and asked it to provide additional reminders to the crews. The Council apologised for the frustration caused.
23. Mrs X complained again on 21 July 2025 as their bin had not been emptied for weeks while their neighbours’ had been collected. Mrs X said the crews had ignored her when she called to them as the passed and had told her husband they were not on the list of addresses with assisted collections. She said they had been registered for assisted collections for over 10 years and had been repeatedly assured the collection crew were aware, but it appeared they had been lied to. Mrs X also reiterated the problem of missed collections predated the strike.
24. The Council said it had requested urgent clearance and monitoring so that this did not happen again. It again apologised for the disruption and inconvenience. Mrs X continued to report missed collections and in September 2025 asked the Council to consider her complaint further.
25. The Council responded on 8 October 2025 and apologised for the missed assisted collections. It again said it had contacted the depot and requested the crews be spoken to and that Mrs X’s collections were monitored.
26. This did not resolve the problem. As the Council continued to miss collections and not return Mrs X’s bin she has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaints. She says the problems have continued into the summer of 2026.
27. In response to my enquiries the Council acknowledges there have been instances where the service has not met the expected standard. It says that where failures were identified it highlighted Mrs X’s property to the depot management team and crew to ensure collections were carried out weekly and the bin returned to the collection point.
28. The Council says it has introduced a new system which has improved its ability to monitor collections and see those registered for assisted collections.

Analysis

29. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Mrs X’s household waste and return her bin to the collection point. These failings in the assisted collection service amount to fault.
30. It is disappointing that despite repeated assurances the Council had reminded the crews and would monitor to ensure Mrs X received regular collection, the service has not improved. The missed collections continued and Mrs X’s bin is still not routinely returned to the collection point.
31. 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 Mrs X’s road they should have collected Mrs X’s household waste along with her neighbours’ and then returned her bin.
32. Having identified fault, I must consider whether this has caused Mrs X a significant injustice. Mrs X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected waste left at her property. She has also faced difficulties in retrieving her bin and has had to rely on other people to return her bin after collection.
33. Mrs X has experienced frustration and disappointment that despite her complaints and reporting of problems the bin is still routinely emptied and then returned. She has also been put to time and trouble in pursuing this matter.

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Action

34. The Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Mrs X and pay her £400 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted collections 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.
• monitor Mrs X’s household waste collections for eight weeks to ensure the assisted collections are carried out properly and the bins are returned to the collection point
35. The Council should take this action with eight weeks of the final decision and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman