Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s waste collection service missing collections in 2023. There is insufficient evidence of significant personal injustice to warrant an investigation. We cannot investigate complaints by parish councils about council services in their area.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about missed recycling collections by the Council’s waste collection service in 2023. She says some collections were missed between July and August 2023. She also says other residents in her parish had missed collections and as Parish Clerk she made complaints to the Council without any apology or compensation awarded to them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or

any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

3. We cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X says the Council missed collections at her home in July and August 2023. She reported the problems and the Council investigated the matter. The Council wrote to her and explained that the system was changed in June for recycling collections and problems with tracking and navigation systems in new vehicles led to some rural locations being missed by unfamiliar crews. The Council apologised and offered Mrs X £25 as a goodwill gesture.

Mrs X is a parish council clerk and reported other residents’ missed collections to the Council which she feels have not received any apology or compensation. We can only consider complaints from private individuals and any personal injustice which they have experienced. Parish councils are public authorities and we cannot accept complaints from them.

Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter. In this case the Council accepted there were problems with the new waste collection system and has apologised for the missed collections. Mrs X has not reported further issues since August 2023.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s waste collection service missing collections in 2023. There is insufficient evidence of significant personal injustice to warrant an investigation. We cannot investigate complaints by parish councils about council services in their area.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman