Is the council supressing missed collection reports?
Residents across the borough may have recently seen a change in the way missed rubbish collections can be reported. Previously, missed collections could be reported at any time after the day of the missed collection up until the day before the next collection. However, residents from Bow West have been contacting me to say that the system is much less flexible than it used to be, and some say they can no longer report their missed collections at all.
You should see a notice on your reporting account which reads: “You can report a missed collection after 3pm on the day of your collection, or as soon as the crew report they have finished the work on your street. You can report a missed collection for 2 days after the collection day (for example, collections missed on a Saturday must be reported by 11:59pm on Monday).“
For some properties, when they try to report a missed collection, they the following notice: “Your next scheduled collection will happen before we could collect your missed collection”. These properties seem to be recognised by the system as getting daily collections, when in fact they receive a weekly service.
What is the main problem?
The waste team has been undertaking some changes recently which should lead to improvements in the service. However, one key metric used by the team to track improvements is the volume of missed collection reports. I am concerned that, in changing how residents can report missed collections, the team is supressing the number of missed collections that can be reported.
Secondly, I’m concerned that some serious administrative error has occurred which has meant addresses receiving a weekly service have been mixed up with the new time-banded collection addresses, preventing residents in the former properties from reporting missed collections in the reporting system.
What have I done so far?
I raised the allegations above with the team, and have received the following reply:
“In response to your query received on 24 January 2025, I can advise that as part of the improvement process in managing the boroughs waste changes in collection regimes are under development as well as the process and software that support these actions. While this process is going on there will be a range of changes, updates to these processes as well as the software and the current arrangements are not the finalised position. The culmination of this will ensure that waste collections for our residents will become more regular.“
I responded further clarifying my points and repeating the allegations about the suppression of missed collection reports. I will update this post when I have a reply.
How have I supported residents?
For the residents unable to report their missed collections, I have personally been contacting the waste team to report missed collections when I am told about them.
If you are not able to report your missed collections for any of the reasons I’ve listed above, please feel free to email me and I will pass the message on to the team to make sure that your rubbish gets collected and the team gets accurate information about the service.
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