'I apologise' - Council boss reveals the reasons why bins in West Lancashire haven't been emptied
The problem has been ongoing for months.
MP Ashley Dalton has waded into a row over bin collections in West Lancashire.
The Labour member has written to Councillor Neil Furey, Chairperson of Communities and Environment Committee at West Lancashire Borough Council (WLBC), over ‘poor and inconsistent service of waste collection’.
For months, residents have complained that waste isn’t collected, or collections are delayed.
One Hesketh Bank home owner said the service was “appalling”. She said: “Excuses after excuses, from no staff, to no wagons. The recycling I would say has improved and is often collected by 7.30am in Hesketh Bank, but grey waste usually sits there all day, and in the heat of summer has been awful. It’s a really disappointing service - and the payment increase for brown bin waste is a joke.”
Now Ms Dalton has had a reply from WLBC explaining what the issues have been, and promising to do better.
She said: “I know this remains a frustrating situation for many of you. WLBC have said they are working on how to improve this service for the future and I’ll be holding them to account on this promise. If you continue facing issues, please do not hesitate to email me on [email protected] or call my office on 01695 559699.”
What does WLBC say?
A letter, sent on behalf of Coun Furey to Ms Dalton outlines the issues facing the teams.
It says: “I am sorry to hear about the concems residents have raised, and I apologise for the frustration, inconvenience and distress caused by the recent disruption to waste and recycling collections. I acknowledge that there have been failings in the delivery of waste collection services, with recurring delays and missed collections affecting residents across the Borough.
“I also recognise that communication with residents has not always met the standards we expect, particularty in providing timely updates about reported missed collections and wider service disruption. This is unacceptable, and I apologise to all residents affected.”
Reasons
The letter says that council members have been updated on the challenges affecting household waste collections over recent months ans says the disruption has been caused by a combination of factors, including:
- difficulties recruiting and retaining HGV drivers through the council’s agency partner
- higher than normal levels of sickness absence, vehicle breakdowns,
- roadworks and diversions affecting established collection routes,
- and the operational impact of periods of extreme heat during the spring and summer.
It continues: “The Borough has also experienced significant housing growth over the last four years, with more than 1,800 new properties added to collection rounds. This has considerably increased demand on the service. To support this growth, two additional collection vehicles and associated staff resources were introduced in August 2025. However, further resource requirements are now being reviewed as part of our service improvement planning.
“Contingency measures were put in place to maintain service levels during periods of operational pressure. These included daily reviews of round completion, redeployment of avallable staff where operationally appropriate, additional monitoring of missed collections, use of available operational resources to support recovery activity, and reliance on agency staffing where available.”
It says that priority has been given to food waste, residual waste and the paid garden waste subscription service.
Action
The letter says the council is now undertaking a comprehensive review of its operating model to ensure the service is resilient and sustainable in the future, stating: “Our immediate priority is to stabilise service delivery, restore collection performance, recover delayed rounds and clear outstanding missed collections as quickly as operationally possible.
“Current actions include daily operational reviews, targeted deployment of crews to the worst affected areas, prioritising residual waste where there is a public health or environmental risk, reviewing vehicle availability, addressing breakdowns quickly, sourcing additional temporary vehicles from our supplier, and working with HR colleagues to manage sickness absence.”
Waste Management Officers are also monitoring repeat missed locations so that persistent issues can be escalated and resolved, and over the past two to three weeks, targeted recovery work has been completed at weekends and on Mondays, outside normal service delivery.
To prevent a recurrence, West Lancashire Borough Council is developing a service improvement plan with short, medium and longer-term actions. This includes reviewing staffing levels, fleet availability, route pressures, resident communications and agency supply arrangements. The plan will also include a request to Council for additional resources. Communication and engagement arrangements have also been strengthened, and engagement will continue with the trade unions and the waste services team to provide clarity on the current position and the recovery of rounds.