Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to suspend its garden waste collection service over the Christmas period. This is because there is not enough evidence Mr X has been caused a significant personal injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to suspend its garden waste collection service over the Christmas period. This is a service Mr X pays for. Mr X wants the Council to issue a refund or to move the renewal date for next year’s subscription. The Council has refused Mr X’s requests.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Good Administrative Practice during the response to COVID-19”.
3. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mr X subscribes to the Council’s garden waste collection service. In return for an annual fee, the Council provides fortnightly collections of garden waste.
6. At the start of December 2020, the Council decided to suspend its fortnightly garden waste collection service. There would be no collections between 28 December and 08 January 2021. This meant Mr X’s last collection in 2020 was on 17 December, and the first in 2021 would be on 15 January. This meant Mr X missed one scheduled collection.
7. On 16 December, the Council wrote to Mr X to say it would be collecting his renewal fee for 2021. Mr X says he has paid the Council £169.80 for the 2021 service, but it did not start until mid-January. Mr X says there was a four-week period when there were no garden waste collections. Mr X wants the Council to refund him £14.12 for this period. Alternatively, Mr X has suggested the Council move the 2022 renewal date, so it provides a full 12-month service.
8. Mr X is unhappy the Council took the decision to suspend the service at the start of December, but still invoiced customers for the full amount for 2021. Mr X is unhappy the Council did not write to him about the revised service and instead published information on its website.
9. In its responses to Mr X’s complaints the Council said:
• It was sorry it had to suspend its garden waste service.
• Because of an increase in COVID-19 cases, the Council was concerned about the possible impact staff sickness would have.
• During the Christmas period household waste and recycling increases, while there is less garden waste to collect. The Council therefore decided to prioritise household waste and recycling. This was in line with non-statutory guidance published by the Government.
• The Council does not have the email addresses of those who subscribe to its garden waste service, so it could not email customers directly.
10. The Council accepted that:
• The terms and conditions in the garden waste leaflet did not provide a right for the Council to suspend the service other than for poor weather.
• The lack of detail within the terms and conditions did not say what a customer could expect should the service be adversely impacted, or a collection suspended.
11. The Council also said:
• This was the first time such a situation had arisen, and the decision was taken to “prioritise the collection of residual waste to protect the health of residents and the health of the staff of our service provider…and in accordance with the non-statutory guidance”.
• There was not time to amend the scheme’s terms and conditions before the decision was taken. But these will be “significantly updated” and the changes communicated.
• Amending the direct debit date for 2022 would mean manually changing 15,000 records which was considered disproportionate.

Assessment

12. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. We need to consider the injustice caused to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
13. COVID-19 placed councils under unexpected pressures and the Council has explained to Mr X the basis of its decision to suspend its garden waste collection service. This was so it could give higher priority to collecting other types of waste. I am satisfied this decision was in line with the Government’s non-statutory guidance. The Council has accepted it needs to revise the terms and conditions of its waste collection service and has apologised to Mr X.
14. It is clear how frustrated Mr X is with the Council’s decision. But having considered the evidence available, I do not think Mr X was caused a personal injustice significant enough to warrant an investigation. The Council’s decision meant Mr X only missed one scheduled collection out of 26. This equates to a charge of £6.53 per collection. This is not enough of an injustice to justify the cost of an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence Mr X has been caused a significant personal injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman