Bins, litter and fly-tipping
Examples: Missed bin collection, Dumped mattress in an alley, Overflowing litter bin.
What do you need?
Pick one — each answer below says where to start and where to go next.
I want to report a problem or apply for something
Start here
Portsmouth City Council
Report fly-tipping or dumped rubbish online → · 023 9283 4092
If that link doesn't open, start from this page.
Why them: The council collects household waste across the city and deals with fly-tipping.
- Clear reported fly-tips and investigate
- Issue fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping (published at £400 to £1,000) and littering (£100 to £500), or prosecute
- Collect waste over your bin allowance — side waste and overflowing bins are the householder's responsibility (waste collection policy 6.8.2)
- Portsmouth City Council — corporate complaints — If a report is not acted on
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
Also useful
Portsmouth City Council — Recycling and Rubbish Team
Report a missed bin collection on the waste portal → · 023 9284 1105
Why them: Missed collections go to the waste service, not the general report forms.
- Return to collect a genuinely missed bin
- Treat a bin as missed if it was not out by 6am, was contaminated, blocked or too heavy (policy 12.3, 12.7)
How long it should take: Report within 2 working days of the scheduled collection; crews aim to return within 1 to 2 working days (longer at busy times such as Christmas).
- Portsmouth City Council — corporate complaints — If the missed collection is not put right
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
I want to challenge a decision that has been made about me
Start here
Portsmouth City Council — corporate complaints
Make a formal complaint about how a council service handled your issue → · 023 9283 4702
Why them: The Ombudsman will not look at a council complaint until the council has had the chance to put it right through its own two-stage process.
- Investigate at stage one (response aimed within 10 working days of acknowledgement) and stage two (within 20 working days)
- Accept a complaint made through a representative such as a family member, councillor or MP, with your written consent
- Replace a statutory appeal route (parking fines, Housing Benefit, planning appeals and school places each have their own)
- Normally consider issues more than 12 months old, unless there are exceptional circumstances
How long it should take: Acknowledged within 5 working days; stage one response within 10 working days of acknowledgement (extendable, normally to no more than 20); stage two within 20 working days of acknowledgement.
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman — After the council has sent its final response (or if a complaint made more than 16 weeks ago has had none); normally within 12 months of knowing about the problem. Free.
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
Also useful
Portsmouth City Council — environmental enforcement
Complain about the behaviour of an officer who issued a fixed penalty notice →
Why them: This is the only FPN-specific challenge route the council publishes.
- Look at complaints about how an enforcement officer behaved
- The FPN page publishes no appeal against the penalty itself; unpaid FPNs may go to court, where liability is decided
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman — After the council has sent its final response (or if a complaint made more than 16 weeks ago has had none); normally within 12 months of knowing about the problem. Free.
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
I need someone to help me with my case
Start here
Your ward councillors (3 per ward, 14 wards)
Ask your ward councillor to take up your case or raise it with the council →
Why them: Councillors do ward casework and set council policy and budget, so they can chase officers on a council matter and raise patterns with the relevant Cabinet member or a scrutiny panel.
- Raise your case with council officers and ask for an explanation
- Act as your representative in a council complaint (with your consent)
- Raise an issue with the relevant executive (Cabinet) member or ask a scrutiny committee to look at it
- Instruct officers to overturn a decision taken under a statutory process
- Decide matters that belong to another body (NHS, police, water companies, government departments)
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
I want to change how things are done, not just fix my case
Start here
Portsmouth City Council — petitions and consultations
Start or sign a petition, or respond to a current council consultation →
Why them: Petitions and consultations are the council's formal routes for residents to shape policy rather than individual cases.
- Accept paper or e-petitions under the council's petition scheme
- Advise where a petition concerns another body
- Guarantee a particular outcome — the scheme sets out how petitions are handled, not that they succeed
- Current council consultations — When the council is consulting on a plan, policy or project
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
Also useful
Your ward councillors (3 per ward, 14 wards)
Ask your ward councillor to take up your case or raise it with the council →
Why them: Councillors do ward casework and set council policy and budget, so they can chase officers on a council matter and raise patterns with the relevant Cabinet member or a scrutiny panel.
- Raise your case with council officers and ask for an explanation
- Act as your representative in a council complaint (with your consent)
- Raise an issue with the relevant executive (Cabinet) member or ask a scrutiny committee to look at it
- Instruct officers to overturn a decision taken under a statutory process
- Decide matters that belong to another body (NHS, police, water companies, government departments)
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
I have complained and it has not been put right
Start here
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Ask the Ombudsman to investigate once the council complaints process is finished →
Why them: It is the independent, free final step for complaints about council services, adult social care and most council housing functions other than social housing.
- Investigate fault in how the council acted and whether it caused you injustice
- Recommend apologies, payments or changes to council procedures
- Look at your complaint before the council has had the chance to resolve it
- Overturn a decision the council made properly just because you disagree with it
- Investigate issues that carry their own right of appeal to a tribunal
Checked 23 September 2026 · source
Your councillors and MP
Useful if the route above has failed, or it's about local policy. Optional: we look up your postcode once and never store it.
Good to know
This tells you where to start and what comes next. It is not legal advice. Time limits shown are the ones each body publishes; always check your own decision letter, which may give a different deadline.