Council to pay compensation to resident who hired skip to deal with mounting rubbish

According to a report by the BBC, an investigation by 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 complainant, 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 hired a skip in an attempt to clear some waste.

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.

According to the BBC, the council agreed to pay the resident £300 to recognise "frustration" and £168 for the skip cost.

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Cllr Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Birmingham City Council said: "We apologise to Mrs X for any distress caused. We have agreed to pay appropriate compensation along with other actions set out by the ombudsman.

"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."

Lottie Winson