Summary: Mrs C complained about missed domestic waste and recycling collections and the Council’s decision to remove the recycling bins for the block she lives in. The Ombudsman finds that, the Council’s failure to consistently collect Mrs C’s household waste and recycling amounts to fault. There was also fault in the way the Council handled Mrs C’s complaint. These faults caused Mrs C an injustice.

The complaint

1. Mrs C complains that the Council has failed to consistently collect her household waste and recycling over the last 12 months. She said that the Council has removed the recycling bins and provided her with clear sacks. Mrs C says that this is not acceptable.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’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

4. I have read the complaint submitted by Mrs C and discussed the complaint with her. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its comments about the complaint and the supporting documents it provided.
5. I provided Mrs C and the Council with a copy of my final decision and invited their comments. I considered the comments I received.

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What I found

6. The Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 45(1) requires the Council to collect Mrs C’s household waste and recycling. Mrs C’s household waste and recycling should be collected every Friday.
7. The flats where Mrs C lives are located up a set of narrow steps that lead to a large terrace and the front doors of each property. The Council said that due to the layout, the flats should not have any bins because it is not safe for the waste crew to pull bins up and down steps. The Council explained that these used to be sack only properties however, two years ago following a request by Mrs C, the Council agreed to provide the flats with bins to help them contain their waste.
8. Residents are required to take their bins to the collection point by 6am every Friday. Access for the waste crew to the collection point is through the rear of a supermarket loading bay.
9. When the Council receives notification of a missed collection it will aim to carry out the collection within two working days. Therefore, for a Friday collection, if the missed bin is reported on the same day the collection should be made by the following Tuesday. The Council will not return for a missed collection if reported after 48 hours.
10. In November 2018 the Council implemented a new environmental management system and therefore cannot provide any missed collection reports before this date.
11. Mrs C provided copies of missed collections that she logged with the Council. Mrs C logged eleven reports with the Council between August 2018 and March 2019.

What happened in this case

12. On 24 July 2018 Mrs C complained to the Council about repeated missed collections of her household and recycling waste.
13. In response to the complaint, the Council sent Mrs C an email on 29 August 2018. It acknowledged that there had been delay in responding to the complaint and apologised for this. The Council told Mrs C that her address would be monitored to ensure her bins were collected as scheduled. It said the collection crew had been told to immediately report any access issues to the collection point so that the collection could be made later in the day. The letter said that if Mrs C remained dissatisfied with the response, she could ask for her complaint to be escalated for review.
14. The Council said that it received no further communication from Mrs C until 13 February 2019. However, Mrs C responded to the Council’s email of 29 August 2018 on the same day and requested a review of her complaint by a senior officer. The Council did not respond to this email.
15. Om 13 February 2019 Mrs C asked the Council to provide her with a formal response so that she could escalate her complaint to the Ombudsman. The Council responded by email and letter on the same day. The Council apologised for the issues Mrs C was still experiencing with her bin collections. It said:

• A waste advisor had recently visited the site and spoken to Mrs C about the issues;
• The bins for the rest of the block had been monitored for the last four weeks and it was established that the blue and green bins were heavily contaminated and were being used for residual (black bin) waste with no attempts at recycling. All bins were stored up several steps and should be bought down the steps by residents and presented at the boundary of the property for collection;
• The waster advisor was aware that Mrs C was keen to recycle but the location of Mrs C’s bins meant they were contaminated regularly. It was agreed that Mrs C would move them to a different location to see if this would reduce contamination;
• The Council would write to all residents about the use of the blue and green bins with advice on what should be put in them;
• It would monitor the bins for six weeks and if the blue and green bin were not being used for recycling, they would be removed, and those residents would be provided with an additional black bin;
• It would monitor Mrs C’s blue and green recycling bins for six weeks and if contamination continued to be an issue it would consider removing the bins and provide Mrs C with clear sacks for her dry recycling. The clear sacks would be collected as normal. For Mrs C’s green waste, the Council said it could provide her with a small 50 litre bin with a handle lock, to be collected with her recycling and black bin.
• The waste crew had been spoken to about the issues and reminded that bins collections should not be missed. The crew said that sometimes the bins were contaminated and not always presented for collection.
• A review would take place on 29 April 2019 where the Council will consider feedback from monitoring.

16. Mrs C responded by email on 18 February 2019. She said that her bins were not emptied regularly, even when uncontaminated. She said at one time she had to wait six weeks for a collection. She said that the actions of her neighbours were not relevant to why her bins were not collected. She said that there had been occasions where she had not put her bins out for collection because they did not need emptying, she rarely had waste in her black bin and her green bin did not need emptying every week. Mrs C said she would not use the clear sacks for recycling as she had nowhere to store them. She accepted the Council’s suggestion of a lockable green bin. The Council acknowledged Mrs C’s email and said it would contact her in writing again after 29 March 2019, once monitoring had been undertaken.
17. On 19 March 2019 Mrs C reported a missed collection. Mrs C collection was due on Friday 15 March 2019 and she reported the missed collection four days later. The Council said that due to the delay in reporting the missed collection, it was not logged onto its environmental management system, because the next collection was due three days after the report was made. The Council said “it would not have been operationally viable to empty [the bins] the day before the scheduled collection on 22 March 2019. Furthermore, the Council carried out monitoring on 22 and 29 March 2019 which confirmed that all bins had been emptied.
18. On 15 April 2019 the Council wrote to Mrs C with a final response to her complaint. The Council said it had sent a letter to all residents about use of the green and blue top bins and monitored their use. It had also carried out monitoring of bin collections. The Council found that at times recycling bins had been contaminated with non- recyclable and therefore were not collected by the recycling crew. The Council explained that it would remove all blue and green top bins on 26 April 2019, as it was satisfied that that quality of recycling was “not sufficient enough to be disposed correctly” despite its advice to all residents. The Council acknowledged that Mrs C was keen to continue recycling and said “we will supply you with:

• Clear plastic sacks for your dry recycling. Moving away from using your bin to sacks should eliminate your recycling form being contaminated by anyone. You can tie the sacks up and present them to be picked up as normal.
• For your food/garden waste we will give you a 50L lockable bin, also to be presented as normal”.

19. The Council said that it would make the bin crew aware of the new arrangements and collections would be monitored for a further 12 weeks to ensure no further issues
20. On 3 June 2019, Mrs C contacted the Council and said her black bin had not been emptied. She said all other black bins had been collected except hers. The Council responded on the same day and said that due to “operational challenges” all black bins in the surrounding area were missed that week. The Council apologised for the inconvenience and said it would try and get the bins emptied as soon as possible.
21. In response to my enquiries the Council said it had not received any missed collection reports from other residents. As well as the issue of the bins being contaminated and therefore not collected, the Council explained that the collection crew had occasionally reported difficulties accessing the collection point due to deliveries and large vehicles blocking access. It said that on these occasions the crews would return the following Monday to try and recollect.
22. The Council’s records show that it monitored bins collections for a total of seven weeks between March 2019 and August 2019. The Council accepts that this is not acceptable and has agreed to monitor the collections at the block where Mrs C lives for a further 10 weeks.

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Analysis

23. The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires the Council to provide a ‘dry’ recycling waste service for items such as paper and card. The Council explained that until two years ago these used to be sack only properties. I understand that Mrs C would prefer not to use clear sacks for her recycling, and I accept that it can be frustrating when other people leave rubbish in your bins.
24. The Council sent letter to residents at the beginning of the year, with advice on how to use the bins and what to put in them. Despite this the Council says it did not note any improvement to the problems and bins continued to be contaminated with non-recyclable materials and therefore it could not collect and recycle the waste as intended. The Council also carried out monitoring of the service and a waste advisor spoke to Mrs C about her issues.
25. For these reasons, I find no evidence of fault in the way the Council investigated the issues and decided to remove the recycling bins for all residents. I find that the Council has reasonably considered Mrs C’s personal circumstances and her wish to continue to recycle by offering her clear sacks for her dry recycling and a lockable bin for her green/food waste.
26. I consider it reasonable for the Council to explain that the collection crew have occasionally experienced problems accessing the collection point. The Council advised that the collection crew go back the next working day to try and collect the bins and did so if it could gain access. I am satisfied with this.

Missed collections

27. The Council’s response to my enquiries gave an incomplete list of missed collections for the reasons explained in paragraph 10 above. However, Mrs C has provided details of eleven missed collections reports that she logged with the Council between August 2018 and March 2019, one of which was due to industrial action. Mrs C had also reported issues before August 2018, which led to her making a formal complaint in July 2018.
28. There have been problems with the service and the Council’s response to Mrs C’s complaint accepts this. The Council also acknowledged that monitoring of the service has been inconsistent. I note that there have been no reports of missed collections since May 2019. I also acknowledge the Council’s comments that there have been no missed collection reports made by other residents.
29. However, it is clear from the number of missed collection reports made by Mrs C and the inconsistencies in monitoring that there have been repeated failings in the Council’s service over a significant period. This is fault. Mrs C has experience frustration and disappointment with the missed collections and has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
30. On 29 August 2019, Mrs C requested a review of her complaint by a senior officer. The Council did not respond to this email and did not escalate Mrs C’s complaint. Mrs C did not receive a final response to her complaint until 13 February 2019. This is fault.

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Recommended action

31. Within four weeks of my final decision the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Mrs C for the faults identified above;
2. Pay Mrs C £150 for the distress caused by the failures I have identified.
32. In addition to the requirements set out above, the Council has agreed to monitor the service for ten weeks.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation on the basis that the Council failed to consistently collect Mrs C’s household waste and recycling over a significant period. There was also fault in the way the Council handled Mrs C’s complaint. These faults caused Mrs C injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman