Over 11,000 bin collections missed in five months

Over 11,000 missed bin collections were reported across the Bradford district in a single five-month period this year, new figures have revealed.

Bradford Council has confirmed it received 11,150 reports of missed general waste and recycling collections between 1 May and 2 October, amid continuing complaints from residents about the recent reliability of the service.

Councillor Ian Walker, the authority's executive member for neighbourhoods and communities, said an "improvement plan" to increase reliability of bin collections was under way.

"While action is still in progress, there has been a marked improvement in collection reliability in the last two weeks," he added.

However, Walker also acknowledged that the service was facing some challenges, with recruiting and retaining HGV drivers being one of the biggest.

The Reform UK-led executive received several questions from councillors on the problem of missed bin collections at a recent meeting.

Walker stressed that approximately five million collections had been completed during the same five-month period, meaning the vast majority had gone ahead "successfully".

Of the missed collections reported, 6,699 were in the Bradford area, 3,539 in the Keighley area and several hundred could not be attributed to a specific area or depot.

Responding to a question from fellow Reform councillor Angela Baker about improvements to the service, Walker said missed collections could occur for several reasons.

Those included parked cars blocking access, vehicle breakdowns, higher than normal waste volumes and traffic problems, he explained.

Staffing and vehicle numbers had been increased as the authority worked to improve existing collections while also rolling out a new food waste service, which had seen greater uptake than expected, Walker told the meeting.

However, concerns were also raised during the meeting about the wait for new refuse collection lorries which, it was confirmed, were not expected to arrive until August 2027.

In a written question, Keighley Labour councillor Caroline Firth asked how many missed collections had been caused by vehicle breakdowns and how the authority expected to improve the service, given the delay on new wagons.

Laying out the recent collections numbers, Walker responded that vehicle breakdowns accounted for "only a small proportion of missed collections during most of the year".

The council's bin wagon fleet remained "broadly within the expected operational age range and breakdown rates are generally manageable", he said.

However he admitted periods of exceptionally hot weather could see "additional strain" on the fleet, and the authority was "actively addressing future fleet requirements".

In a supplementary question, Firth pressed Walker on what was being done to prevent further missed collections before the new lorries arrived, pointing out that the hot weather had ended, but problems were continuing.

"Bin collections are still being missed, so what is going to be done now and up to August?" she asked.

Walker responded by outlining several measures, including redesigned collection rounds, a growing waste engagement team and expanded use of a depot at Northcliffe Park.

Recruiting and retaining HGV drivers was currently the "main" challenge facing the service, Walker said, but he went on to stress that and other factors had been problems under the previous Labour administration.

"What we inherited was a complete mess," he told councillors.

"We are working towards fixing all of the problems we've inherited."

Missed bin collections have been a recurring source of complaints to the council since Reform took control in May.

Bingley Independent councillor Joe Wheatley previously said entire streets in his ward had been missed, while Conservative group leader Rebecca Poulsen said residents were becoming "weary" of explanations for the disruption.

The authority previously said an additional 1,600 tonnes of household waste had been collected compared with the same period in 2025, adding pressure to the service.

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