More than 155,000 bin collections missed in Rotherham in a year as agency spend passes £800,000
More than 87,000 household waste and recycling collections were missed in a single month in Rotherham, while the council spent over £814,000 on agency staff over the year, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Data provided by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council shows missed collections surged in summer 2025, peaking at 87,705 in August, compared with figures in the hundreds during much of 2024 and early 2025.
The council said the spike followed a decision to temporarily pause garden waste collections due to staffing pressures, allowing crews to prioritise general waste and recycling services.
In total, 6,554 bin collections were missed in 2024, compared with 155,858 in 2025, according to the figures.
Despite the sharp rise in missed collections, the number of complaints increased by a much smaller amount. In August 2025, 20 complaints were recorded, compared with 19 in the same month the previous year. The council said residents were informed in advance of the service pause, with many contacts handled as service requests rather than formal complaints.
The FOI response also revealed the council spent £814,330 on agency staff during the 2024/25 financial year. An average of 24 agency workers were used in 2024 and 26 in 2025, while there are currently 21 vacant posts in the waste collection service, including five driver roles and 16 loaders.
Sam Barstow, the council’s service director for community safety and street scene, said the authority recognised it had “a difficult few months” and acknowledged residents did not receive the service they should expect. He said the temporary suspension of garden waste collections was introduced to reduce disruption to core services, with affected residents offered a discount or partial refund.
“We absolutely recognise that we had a difficult few months last year with missed bin collections. Part of the reason was down to staffing levels – something a lot of councils have struggled with – and despite the team working incredibly hard, we simply didn’t deliver the reliable service residents rightly expect.
“We were upfront about it at the time, and we took steps straight away to reduce the impact. That included temporarily pausing the garden waste service so we could focus on keeping general waste and recycling collections running as smoothly as possible. We apologised to everyone affected by the disruption to garden waste and offered a discount on this year’s service, or a partial refund for those who chose not to renew.
“Since then, we’ve made several changes. We’ve been actively recruiting new staff, strengthening the team, and looking at how we schedule and prioritise routes so we’re much more resilient. Bin collections will always face challenges like bad weather or vehicle breakdowns, but we’re confident we’re in a better position now than we were last year.”