Bins drew 429 of Sutton Council's 794 formal complaints in 2025/26, and 48% were upheld in full. Missed collections led, and total complaints rose 28%.
Bin collections caused more than half of all formal complaints to Sutton Council last year. Of 794 first-stage complaints in 2025/26, 429 were about waste and recycling. The council upheld 48% of those in full.
The figures are in the council’s annual complaints report. It goes to the Audit and Governance Committee on Thursday 22 October (Annual Complaints Report 2025/26).
What went wrong with the bins
The report breaks down the 429 waste complaints:
- 172 (40%) were about missed collections, often repeated ones, across general waste, recycling, food and garden waste
- 102 (24%) were about crew behaviour: bins left in the wrong place, bins allegedly damaged, mess left in gardens or streets, and allegations of verbal abuse
- 48 (11%) were escalated to the second stage of the complaints process
Of the 429, 48% were upheld, 17% partly upheld and 35% not upheld.
The council gives two reasons for the jump. Waste complaints skipped the informal “initial contact” stage last year, so more went straight to formal Stage 1. And the service “did experience service delivery issues following round changes”, which the report says “have now been resolved”.
It also asks for context. The waste service schedules more than 5 million collections a year, so 429 complaints reflect “a very small proportion” of them.
Complaints up 28% across the council
Stage 1 complaints rose from 619 in 2024/25 to 794 in 2025/26. That is an increase of 28%. A further 126 complaints went to Stage 2, the council’s final internal review.
Waste was not the only cause. The report says complaints rose “across the board”. It suggests residents are more aware of their right to complain. It also points to artificial intelligence: people who “may not have felt comfortable to raise a complaint before, are able to do so now”. The council says AI-written complaints are often “lengthy and complex” and take longer to answer.
Across all 794, the council upheld 262 (33%) in full and 201 (25%) in part. It rejected 311 (39%).
The council met its own deadline on most of them. It answered 94% of Stage 1 and 93% of Stage 2 complaints on time, against a 90% target.
The other services
After bins, the five services with the most Stage 1 complaints were:
| Service | Stage 1 complaints | Upheld in full | Partly upheld |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waste and recycling | 429 | 48% | 17% |
| Housing advice | 133 | 9% | 53% |
| Council tax and benefits | 60 | 15% | 8% |
| Planning | 31 | 13% | 32% |
| Parking | 21 | 9% | 43% |
Of the 133 housing advice complaints, 33 were about the housing register or housing options. Another 30 were about conditions in temporary accommodation, and 20 about temporary accommodation services. Our story on the 1,142 Sutton households in temporary accommodation in June sets out the pressure behind those numbers.
Some services missed the 90% target:
- Adult social care: 87 complaints, up from 69, with 80% answered on time. The report links the rise to the charging policy brought in in April 2025.
- Children’s social care: 49 complaints under the statutory procedure, with 61% of first-stage replies on time.
- Informal concerns: 156 logged, 79% answered within five working days. Parks and open spaces drew the most (32), then highways (24).
Council tenants complain to Sutton Housing Partnership, which runs a separate process. It recorded 411 formal complaints, up from 107 the year before.
What the Ombudsman found
Residents who are still unhappy after Stage 2 can go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. It dealt with 83 Sutton complaints in 2025/26. It investigated 11 and upheld 8.
That is 3.7 upheld complaints per 100,000 residents. The average for similar councils is 10.2. The report says Sutton ranked third best in London on that measure, and complied with every Ombudsman recommendation on time.
The upheld cases are listed in an appendix (Appendix A). The largest payments were both in education:
- £2,588.75 for a delayed annual review of a child’s education, health and care plan (EHCP) and missed occupational and speech therapy
- £2,050 for a delay in issuing a final EHCP and transferring it to another council
What it means for you
- A missed bin is not a complaint, at first. The council treats a first report of a missed collection, a replacement bin or fly-tipping as an everyday service request. Report it online first. Our Sutton bin collection days page has the collection days.
- If the crew damaged your bin, you can challenge the replacement charge. The council added that option last year. You need evidence that the crew caused the damage.
- Complaints now get a faster reply. Since April 2026 there are two stages instead of three. The council must answer a Stage 1 complaint within 10 working days, down from 20.
- After Stage 2, you can go to the Ombudsman. The council’s Stage 2 reply is its final word and should tell you how.
- Councillors can question the figures. The Audit and Governance Committee meets at 7pm on Thursday 22 October at the Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way (agenda).
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