GLASGOW’S council leader and sustainability convener have been revealed as having the highest missed bin collections within their ward.

Council boss Susan Aitken and councillor Anna Richardson, who represents Langside in the city’s South Side, have had a total of 198 missed bin collections reported in their area within the last 28 days, according to figures produced last week.

The Scottish Greens’ Tanya Wisely and Archie Graham from Scottish Labour also represent the area.

Newlands and Auldburn has the second highest statistic with 144 missed bins, while Anderston, City and Yorkhill come in with the lowest figures at just 21.

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Similarly, Langside also has the highest missed recycling pick-ups with 184 in the last 28 days.

Baillieston recorded the least issues with only 19 pick-up problems reported.

Figures are updated daily on a rolling basis, meaning they are likely to change each day.

In total, almost 1000 collections for both general waste and recycling bins have been missed throughout the city in the last month.

The statistics have prompted opposition parties to blast the “hypocrisy” of Glasgow City Council’s senior politicians, who have advocated for controversial bin collection policies.

The three-weekly bin collection, which was rolled out across the city earlier this year, has been met with anger from unions and residents alike.

Initially, households which relied on kerbside pick-ups had green bins lifted every fortnight but this was reduced to every three weeks in a bid to increase recycling rates, which had fallen far below other cities in the UK.

Critics claimed the move would only lead to further issues, such as fly-tipping or additional bin purchase. Labour’s former cleansing convener, councillor Paul Carey, said: “It’s ironic that here we have the leader of the council and the convener for cleansing who have the highest missed general bins collection and the highest missed collection of recycling bins in the city.

“They are constantly denying there is a cleaning crisis in this city.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The issue affecting Langside bin collections is connected to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and has nothing to do with any recent policy changes.

“Langside’s housing stock is predominately flats and tenements with our staff often gaining access to shared bin courts from adjoining back lanes. More people working from home during Covid-19 has meant more vehicles blocking access to those lanes, which has had a direct impact on our staff’s capacity to complete scheduled collections.”

He added: “As restrictions have eased and more people are going into work, we have encountered fewer issues with access, with follow-up service requests falling sharply in recent months.

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“But we are also deploying smaller vehicles that can manoeuvre through tighter spaces in the area and the local neighbourhood liaison staff are working with residents to address local issues that may affect access to their bin courts.

“Changes to how we gather information will soon allow staff to digitally record issues they encounter on their routes, which in turn will help provide a far accurate picture of how the service is performing.

“Service requests about missed bin collections relate to a tiny proportion of the collections we undertake each year with over 99% completed without issue.”