Council to pay out to resident who hired skip

The council said it was not possible to fully understand what caused the missed collections as the staff involved are currently involved in strikes

Birmingham City Council has agreed to pay out to a resident in flats who hired a skip to deal with mounting rubbish.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council "repeatedly failed" to collect the woman and her neighbours' waste since January 2024 - a year before the current bins strike began.

The watchdog said the council agreed to pay the resident £300 to recognise "frustration" and £168 for the skip cost.

The authority said it apologised for any distress caused and had agreed to pay "appropriate compensation along with other actions set out by the ombudsman."

The resident claimed the council "repeatedly failed" to collect communal waste containers. The watchdog said it caused "difficulties" for the woman, who was referred to as Mrs X.

Mr and Mrs X reported a number of missed collections last summer, four in September and four in October.

She made a formal complaint in October and a skip was hired in an attempt to clear some waste.

'Need to intervene'

The ombudsman said the council's response to the complaint apologised for "poor level of service" and that the authority stated crews were given "additional reminders".

But issues reportedly continued towards the end of 2024.

The watchdog said the council stated it was unable to comment on what "caused the missed collections as the driver and crew are involved in the industrial action", but "it again suggests the later start times introduced in 2024 are a potential cause".

The report stated a number of missed collections were eventually "closed", meaning the council completed them later.

Addressing missed collections earlier this year, cabinet member for environment Majid Mahmood said: "We don't want to see a single complaint coming through to customer services because of non-collection.

"No resident should have to go and pay for their own skip. It's a service that we have to by law provide to residents.

"If there's specific issues... that's something that we need to intervene with."

He added in January that new technology would make a positive difference and the system was being reviewed around tower blocks and maisonettes.

Mahmood has said changes to the city's waste service will provide people "with a better waste collection service" in line with other councils.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.