London Borough of Croydon (18 014 896)

Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 27 Jun 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complained about missed waste collections between February and December 2018. This resulted in infestations and he needed to keep the windows of his flat closed due to the smell. The Council is at fault for missed collections and failing to return to collect the bins after missed collections were reported. It is also at fault for the delay in replacing damaged bins. It should apologise and pay Mr X £200 for the injustice caused.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complained about missed bin collections between February and December 2018. He said he reported a number of missed collections but the Council did not always return to complete the collection. He said the Council agreed to replace two damaged bins in March but did not do so until November 2018.
  2. As a result of the missed collections, the bins were over-flowing, which led to insect and rat infestations. Mr X said in the summer months he could not open the windows in his flat because of the smell.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  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

  1. I spoke to Mr X and considered the information he provided.
  2. I considered the information the Council provided, including information about its waste collection policy on its web-site.
  3. I gave the Council and Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making my final decision.

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What I found

Background

  1. Councils have a duty to collect household waste and recycling free of charge. Councils do not have to collect weekly and can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
  2. This Council’s policy says missed collections should be reported after 6 p.m. on the collection day and within two days of the missed collection. It says its contractor should rectify the missed collection within one working day of it being reported.

What happened

  1. Mr X lives in a flat above a row of shops. The flats share four bins that look like commercial bins but are used for domestic waste. Mr X said the problem began after the Council made changes to its collection service and the crew was reduced from four or five operatives to two or three. The Council contracts its waste collection and says its arrangements changed in March 2018.
  2. He first reported a missed collection on 19 February and was told the bins would be collected the following day. He made further reports on 20, 21 and 22 February and the contractor emptied three of the four bins on 23 February 2018. He reported a further missed collection on 26 February, which was the next scheduled collection. Again, he was told the operator would collect the bins the following day. This did not happen. Mr X made further reports for the next three days but the bins were not collected.
  3. Mr X complained to the Council on 1 March and it responded the following day. It said it had asked the contractor to prioritise the collection but because of bad weather many collections had been missed and some streets were unsafe for the crews to navigate. It said an officer had visited the site and found an armchair in one of the bins, which it asked Mr X to remove. Mr X explained he was a resident and not the managing agent and that there were problems with fly tipping. The Council apologised for asking him to deal with the armchair and said it would pass the information about fly tipping on to another team.
  4. The bins were emptied on 3 March but not collected on 12 March, the next scheduled collection day. A council officer (officer 1) visited the site and noted the bins had been emptied. Officer 1 identified a broken wheel on one bin and a missing lid on another. He said he would arrange for these to be replaced.
  5. In late July Mr X reported the bin with a damaged wheel had not been emptied for a few weeks. He said he had taken rubbish out of that bin and placed it in the other bins. He asked when the damaged bins would be replaced.
  6. In mid September, Mr X complained that the contractor was still only emptying three of the four bins but he said the one not emptied was not the one with a broken wheel. The Council said it would monitor collections over the next three collection cycles. It said it had asked the contractor to replace the damaged bins and it would do so when replacement bins were in stock.
  7. In early October Mr X complained again. He said the problem persisted. He said the contractor randomly emptied some bins and not others. He said even when asked nicely the crew refused to empty all four bins. The Council said it would deal with the complaint under stage 2 of its complaints process and an officer would visit the site to supervise
  8. A week later Mr X asked if an officer had supervised the collection, as promised. He said that again only three of the four bins had been emptied. He said he had been told the bins were blocked by parked cars last week but he had CCTV footage that showed that was not the problem this time. The Council replied that the collection had not been overseen that week. It said officers had asked residents and local businesses not to park in the area on the collection day. It said if vehicles were parked near the bins the crew could not risk damaging them.
  9. An officer visited the site in mid October and reported the bins had not been emptied.
  10. The Council sent its stage 2 response in late October. It said:
    • Some collections were missed in February due to poor weather;
    • No missed collections were reported between March and August 2018;
    • Officers had seen parked cars obstructing access to the bins on site visits and had spoken to local businesses to ask them not to park there on collection days; and
    • The bins would be replaced in early November.

It offered Mr X £50 for the inconvenience he suffered and said it would monitor the collections for the next 6 weeks. It also suggested Mr X considered installing bollards to prevent parking close to the bins.

  1. The Council has provided a schedule of missed collections, which shows two missed collections in February, two in March, one in August, two in October and one in November. The record states one collection was missed due to no access and another due to a damaged bin. The emails Mr X sent to the Council show he was regularly reporting three of four bins had been emptied but not all of these have been recorded as a missed collection.
  2. In its reply to my enquiries the Council said it put the address on a monitoring list for its contractor’s managers to check collections. It also said two officers monitored the bins and carried out site visits.
  3. The Council said a new contractor took over the waste collection in March 2018. It accepted there were teething problems initially with a change of crews and borough wide restructure. There was also a dispute between it and the contractor about who should deliver replacement bins. It appears this was not resolved until late August, at which point the contractor said it would need to order bins in the correct colours and it would take four to six weeks for them to arrive. The replacement bins were received in late October and were delivered to Mr X’s property in November 2018.
  4. The Council said there was little it could do about parking near the bins or fly tipping because it was private land. It had suggested Mr X discuss these issues with the managing agent or landlord.

My findings

  1. The Council missed at least three collections in February and March 2018 and its contractor did not return to make the collection when the missed collections were reported. The Council said the collections were missed due to bad weather and parked cars obstructing the bins. On balance, although I accept there were difficulties due to bad weather and vehicles obstructing the bins, I do not consider these factors prevented it collecting the bins on all these occasions. There were further missed collections in October and November. The Council was at fault. This fault caused inconvenience to Mr X and meant he had to keep reporting the problem.
  2. The Council identified two bins that needed replacing in March but did not deliver replacements until November 2018. The Council says this was initially due to a dispute with its contractor and then due to delays in getting new bins from the supplier. The Council is responsible for action and inaction by its contractor. The delay in replacing the bins was fault. This fault meant the contractor did not empty all four bins on several collection days from March to November 2018.
  3. Mr X said there were missed collections over the summer months that caused particular inconvenience because bins were overflowing, which led to insect and rate infestation. He has provided photographs that show this. He also says he was not able to open the windows in his flat because of the smell. I have only been able to identify one occasion where a missed collection is recorded over the summer of 2018. This is not sufficient for me to make a further finding of fault. That said, I note the contractor was not able to collect all four bins over this period because one was damaged and that another bin had a missing lid. I have therefore taken this into account when deciding what remedy is appropriate for the delay in replacing the bins.
  4. The Council has limited power to deal with fly tipping and parking of vehicles on private land. I cannot hold the Council responsible for these problems. I note that it made enquiries about the fly tipping and suggested Mr X discuss both issues with his landlord or managing agent. These were appropriate actions in this circumstance and there was not fault in how the Council considered this matter.

Agreed action

  1. The Council will, within one month of the date of the final decision,
    • Apologise to Mr X for the missed collections and the delay in replacing the damaged bins;
    • Pay him £200 for the inconvenience and the time and trouble it caused; and
    • Remind relevant staff and its contractor that it should return to collect bins within one working day of a missed collection report, in accordance with the Council’s policy.

The Council previously offered to pay Mr X £50 for his time and trouble reporting missed collections. It is not clear whether it paid him this sum. If it did, it can offset that payment against the £200 payment I now recommend.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault leading to personal injustice. I have recommended action to remedy that injustice and prevent reoccurrence of the fault, which the Council has agreed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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