Were getting 200 compensation over failed bin collections how you can get money too
THREE women have been awarded £200 after the council failed to collect their rubbish and return their bins.
Birmingham City Council was ordered to pay the outraged women for their constant battle with "rude" bin collection crews.
The residents were supposed to be provided with reliable assisted collections - available to those who can not collect and return bins themselves.
But they claim bin crew workers routinely failed to collect the waste, often left bins outside the allocated spots, and when challenged were "rude."
According to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman investigation service, councils are entitled to pay up if they repeatedly miss bin collections.
If your bins have not been collected on time over a number of months the Ombudsman will step in, as they did in Coventry last year where one resident was paid £400.
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In Manchester another resident was also handed £400 after 20 missed bin collections, while in Nottinghamshire a furious resident was awarded £100.
One of the woman in Birmingham alleged that Birmingham City Council employees were discarding her bin and blocking her neighbour's driveway.
She told the Ombudsman's investigation when she tried to talk to the bin men they were "rude" and told her she was "always moaning".
The council stepped in and claimed they were going to monitor the situation but the Ombudsman found failures in the service.
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The second woman complained her bins were not even collected.
Ombudsman investigation services claim they "will not usually investigate complaints of one or two missed collections" but "may investigate if there have been a series of missed collections over a number of months."
They found the council crews did repeatedly miss her bin collections.
In the third case, the woman believed her council were not taking her complaints seriously.
Which appeared to be the case after an internal memo was leaked, as reported in Birmingham Live, that read: "With everything going on in the world…they are bothered about a lid being left open, it is pathetic."
This resident accused her bin men of failing to return her bins to the right place, and with the lid down.
All the women who received £200 had been told Birmingham City Council was going to monitor their collections.
But all three were found to be failing according to the Ombudsman.
Michael King, the most senior official in the country appointed to investigate individuals' complaints, told Birmingham Live: “Each woman in these cases receive assisted collections because they are vulnerable in some way, and it is understandable that they feel they have been targeted by the crews for making their complaints.
“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.”
In response, Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment at Birmingham city council, said: “We take these findings very seriously – and unreservedly apologise that the standard of service was not what it should have been in these cases.
“A comprehensive action plan has been drawn up in response, and we will fully address and action all the findings and recommendations that have been made.
“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.
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“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.”
If you are disappointed with your bin collection service you can contact Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman for an investigation.
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