The ombudsman has ordered the council to pay three residents implicated in the most recent report £200 each to “recognise the frustration and difficulties” caused by problems with the service.
Each of the residents involved receives assisted collections, whereby crews collect and return bins from an agreed storage point because the residents cannot do so themselves.
In one case, a woman complained collection crews routinely failed to collect her waste, failed to return her bin to the right place, and left neighbours’ bins blocking her driveway. Despite the council agreeing to monitor the service, “the problems persisted,” the ombudsman says. She told the ombudsman’s investigation that when she challenged the crew, they were rude and “accused her of lying and always moaning”.
In a second separate case, crews again failed to collect and return a woman’s bin. The council agreed to monitor the service, but there was no improvement, the ombudsman says, and the woman has questioned whether this was happening deliberately because of her complaint.
In the third case, a woman complained about repeated failures by crews to return her bin to the right place with the lid closed. The woman told the investigation there appeared to be no repercussions for the collection crews and the council “does not take her complaint seriously. The ombudsman says an internal memo about her case from one council officer said: “With everything going on in the world…they are bothered about a lid being left open, it is pathetic.”
Cllr Majid Mahmood, Birmingham’s cabinet member for environment, said the city council took the findings “very seriously”. He apologised “unreservedly” that the standard of service was not what it should have been.
As well as paying the three complainants £200 each, the council has also agreed to review its waste collection monitoring arrangements to ensure they are “robust and effective” in identifying and resolving problems.
‘Vulnerable’
Michael King, the local government and social care ombudsman, said each of the women received assisted collections because they were “vulnerable in some way”. He said it was “understandable” that they felt targeted by the crews for making their complaints.
It is not enough for the council to blame rogue crews and then fail to tackle these issues at a more senior level
- Michael King, the local government and social care ombudsman
Mr King added: “However, while there may be issues on the ground, it is not enough for the council to blame rogue crews and then fail to tackle these issues at a more senior level.
“We are concerned the situation the three women have faced is echoed across the city, particularly because they are served by different council depots, rather than there being a rotten culture at a single location.
“This continued failure to address public concerns effectively is as much a matter of corporate leadership as it is of day-to-day service delivery.
“I am pleased the council has agreed to my recommendations to tackle the issues at its most senior level and hope the oversight of both the chief executive and leader will ensure issues are tackled in a more proactive manner.”
Action plan
Cllr Mahmood said the council had drawn up a “comprehensive” action plan in response to the ombudsman’s findings and would fully address and action all the recommendations.
“This includes further staff training, the utilisation of technology that will better inform crews about information on assisted collections on their rounds and wagon cameras that enable the monitoring of services on a regular basis,” Cllr Mahmood said.
“Management will also be shadowed and receive monitoring training to ensure this is effective and the roads that have been identified through this report are set to be tracked through the council enquiry system to ensure no repeat issues are raised.”
The ombudsman said the action plan would be reported directly to the chief executive and leader of the council.
Birmingham
Representing an estimated population of more than 1.1 million, Birmingham city council had one of the lowest household waste recycling rates in the country in the 2020/21 financial year, at 22.5%.
Birmingham’s in-house team collects residual waste weekly and recycling and garden waste fortnightly. Garden waste collection is a seasonal, paid-for service.
The council has responsibility for collecting waste from almost 420,000 households across the city, according to an independent review carried out in 2020, which amounts to just under 250,000 tonnes of collected domestic waste per year.
Previously, in November 2021, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman criticised Birmingham city council for not dealing with a “squabble” between departments which meant communal bins were not being returned (see letsrecycle.com story).
And, in August 2019, the ombudsman criticised Birmingham’s refuse service for repeated missed collections and failing to return vulnerable people’s bins to the proper place.
Subscribe for free