Hounslow Council Misses Targets for Waste Collection and Care Plans

Hounslow Council missed over 2,000 household waste collections in the same period it issued an NHS nurse a £1,000 ‘fly-tipping’ fine for placing an envelope next to overflowing bins.

Hounslow gave mental health nurse Loretta Alvarez the hefty penalty after workers found her name and address on a cardboard envelope, which she’d placed on a pile of cardboard next to the communal bins outside her flats in October.

During the same period – from October to December 2025 – the council-owned Lampton Recycle 360 missed 2,080 bin collections. In December alone, 1,253 collections were missed.

In December, Hounslow Council refused to cancel the fine despite strong support for its cancellation with over 2,200 signatures on an online petition. At the time, Cllr Pritam Grewal said the council was confident it did the “right thing” in issuing the single mum with the highest possible fly-tipping penalty – the same amount you’d get for dumping a van full of waste down a country lane.

The number of missed collections in this quarter was significantly worse than earlier in the year. Between April and June 2025, 1,651 collections were missed, while there were 1,522 missed between July and September – all above the 1,500 maximum target per quarter.

Council documents say that the primary driver for the worsening numbers were issues with garden waste reporting and complications involving system errors. In response, Lampton Recycle 360 is currently undertaking a missed collection review to address the issues.

Another key issue the council is way off track on is completing an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) within the legal 20-week limit. Last week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed that in one case Hounslow Council took three years to issue an EHCP.

Between October and December 2025, only 17.1 per cent (21 out of 41 plans) were completed on time – way below the council’s 90 per cent target. Performance had been steadily declining throughout the year, dropping from 47.1 per cent in Q1, to 27.6 per cent in Q2.

In December alone, 24 out of the 41 assessments had advice submitted late, ranging from two weeks late to 21 weeks late. This severely impacts the statutory 20-week deadline, which requires a strict eight-week period from the receipt of advice to a panel decision.

The council report highlights a heavy workload and the impact of clearing backlogs as the reason for the missed target. Documents state that there was a high influx of assessment advice coming from a team of at least 15 educational psychologists being funnelled into a much smaller team of just five officers – creating a capacity issue.

The team had intentionally sought to complete toddler assessments, which had already exceeded the 20-week mark, first. This created a “disproportionate balance” negatively impacting newer submissions.

To tackle this, the council secured additional capacity to support the officer team for two weeks, focusing on drafting plans. The department is also implementing internal monitoring of officer performance and reviewing the way duties are divided among staff.

Despite some challenges, the council did exceed expectations in some key areas, particularly when it comes to young people. This includes beating the 94 per cent target of 16-18 year olds in education, employment or training.

In particular, the number of 16–18 year olds in care who are in education, employment or training outperformed the council target of 65 per cent, reaching 73.74 per cent in the last quarter.

Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter

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