Summary: Miss X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her household waste as part of its assisted collection service. Miss X says the Council’s actions have caused her avoidable stress and frustration. We found fault by the Council and the Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and provide a financial remedy.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her household waste as part of its assisted collection service. Miss X says the Council’s actions have caused her avoidable stress and frustration. She would like the Council to carry out regular waste collections on the due dates.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I discussed the complaint with Miss X and considered the information she provided.
6. I made enquiries to the Council and considered the information it provided.
7. Miss X and the Council have had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation

8. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly, and councils can decide the type of bins or waste containers people must use.

Assisted collections

9. The Council operates an assisted collection service to eligible service users. Residents may be eligible for an assisted waste collection service if they have difficulty moving the waste containers, for example due to their age or disability.
10. For agreed assisted collections, the Council’s waste crews will collect the waste containers from an agreed location at the service user’s property, instead of them having to present the waste containers at the kerbside.

What happened

11. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
12. Miss X has some difficulty with mobility. The Council agreed to provide assisted collections for Miss X as a result.
13. In 2023, Miss X reported several instances of missed collections to the Council. In mid-2023, Miss X complained to the Council that it had repeatedly failed to collect her household waste.
14. In August 2023, the Council responded to Miss X’s complaint. It apologised for the missed collections and said it had issued reminder forms to the waste crew responsible. The Council said that for assisted collections, it is the duty of the crew to take the bin and recycling containers out, and to return them correctly once emptied.
15. The Council said it had ensured its in-cab technology held the correct details for Miss X’s property, and it had added prompts to remind the crew that Miss X required assisted collections. The Council said it understood the stress and inconvenience caused, and said it expected the issue to be resolved, with no further instances of missed collections. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint and advised her to contact the Ombudsman if she remained dissatisfied with the complaint response.

What happened next

16. Miss X reported a further missed collection to the Council in October 2023. Shortly after, Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

17. Miss X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her household waste despite being approved for assisted collections. The Council has acknowledged it failed to collect Miss X’s waste on these occasions, including garden waste, recycling and normal household refuse. This includes two occasions after the Council provided its complaint response in which it told Miss X it expected the measures put in place had resolved the issue.
18. As part of its response to our enquiries, the Council says it appears the waste crews have a conflicting understanding of the presentation point for Miss X’s waste containers, and this may be the reason for further missed collections. The Council says the waste supervisors are following up with the waste crew responsible for Miss X’s collections to ensure collections are taking place as agreed. The Council also says it has extended the use of in-cab prompts to the waste crews until the end of March 2024.
19. It is positive the Council has addressed the issue of continued missed collections and has taken steps to ensure future collections take place. However, the Council’s failure to collect Miss X’s household waste as part of its assisted collection service is fault.
20. Having identified fault, I must consider if this caused an injustice to Miss X. Miss X says she needs the assisted collections because she finds it difficult to move the waste containers herself. She says she is no longer able to take any uncollected waste to the Council’s waste recycling centre. Miss X says the Council’s failure to collect her household waste has caused her avoidable stress and frustration.
21. Whilst I acknowledge the Council has previously apologised to Miss X and has liaised with the waste management team regarding this issue, this does not adequately address the injustice to Miss X. In addition, the steps taken by the Council have not fully resolved the issue as the Council failed to collect Miss X’s household waste on two occasions after its complaint response.

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Agreed action

22. To address the injustice to Miss X, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Miss X. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings;
2. Make a symbolic payment of £200 to Miss X in recognition of the stress and frustration caused;
3. Agree in writing with Miss X, a collection/return point for her waste containers, and to share this information with the waste collection crews.
23. The Council has also agreed to take the following additional action within three months of the final decision:
1. Review the Council’s process for issuing reminders to the waste crews to identify any improvements in how it carries out its assisted collection service, and
2. Extend the in-cab prompts regarding Miss X’s collections for three months from the date of the final decision.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

25. I have found fault by the Council and the Council has agreed to take the above action to resolve this complaint. I have therefore concluded my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman