Record rise in councils compensating households for 'extreme' bin collection failures

Bin collection failures by councils have risen to record levels, leading to dozens of severely neglected households being handed hundreds of pounds on compensation, figures show.

Over the past year more than 400 bin-related disputes were upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, it has revealed, up from 287 in the previous year.

According to a report published today by the organisation, which is the arbiter of bin-related disputes, it upheld 81 per cent of the 498 complaints it received last year. This is up from 225 (55 per cent) of 447 complaints upheld in 2014/15.

Some 21 people were treated so badly they received payouts worth an average of £140, with the worst cases receiving £350 in compensation from councils. 

In 2014/15 just nine people received financial compensation over extreme bin failings.

The Ombudsman only upholds cases where a lack of bin collection by councils has been long and sustained, or if they involve poor customer service or someone with a disability.

Only in the very worst cases does it force councils to offer redress.  In one such case, a man was having to take his rubbish to a relative for more than three months because the council refused to collect it, the Ombudsman revealed.

And in another instance, a disabled man receiving assisted collections did not have his bin returned to the right place for 10 months in a row.  Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, accused councils of "washing their hands" of the failures which he claims have arisen as a result of them outsourcing bin collection to private companies.

It comes as English councils’ spending on neighbourhood services, such as bins, planning, potholes and leisure, has fallen by more than £3bn in the past five years.

A report by the Association for Public Service Excellence published earlier this year said big cuts to funding were “changing the very nature of local government.”

Due to budget constraints many councils including Southampton, Plymouth and Woking have caused outrage by scrapped weekly bin collections, opting for fortnightly collections instead.

Mr King said the rise in extreme bin collection failures was down to councils outsourcing the work.

He said: “Councils can contract out their waste services, but they cannot wash their hands of it. They are responsible and accountable for delivering those services, and for putting things right when they go wrong. Outsourced should not mean out of touch.

“Whether the service is outsourced or not, we shouldn’t be upholding 81 per cent of the complaints we investigate – this is too much, particularly for a service that should be relatively simple to get right.

Cllr Martin Tett, environment spokesman at the Local Government Association, which represents local councils, said: “Councils know that having a reliable and efficient waste collection and recycling service is hugely important to residents. It is actually one of the most popular services councils provide with almost 80 per cent of people happy with the way their bins are collected.

“Councils have seen their core central government funding cut by £2.2 billion this year. Faced with such funding pressures, many are increasingly having to look at innovative and cost-effective ways of delivering services, including collecting waste."

Has your council changed its rubbish collection policy? Email: katie.morley@telegraph.co.uk