Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to collect her household waste on occasions in 2018 and her domestic waste again in late 2019. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has taken sufficient action to remedy the injustice cause by the missed collections.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains about the Council’s contractor failing to collect her household waste on some occasions over the past year. She wants the Council to ensure that her waste is regularly collected. She was forced to put the recycled waste in her regular waste bin which she did not wish to do.

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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’. 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:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Mrs X submitted with her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response.

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What I found

4. Mrs X complained to the Council following missed recycling collections in 2018 the Council told her it would monitor the collection for six weeks and it also paid her £50 compensation. The collections were regular until late 2019 when some domestic waste collections were missed. Mrs X complained again. This time the Council sent an officer to visit her property and told her the officer would check the collection weekly.
5. Mrs X experienced a further missed collection and the Council said it would monitor the collection for a further six weeks. The Council also offered her £25 for the inconvenience caused. Mrs X says the missed collections are collected the following day but this is a waste of public resources.
6. The Council has responded to Mrs X’s complaints in both years when she has experienced problems. I consider the response to be reasonable and the best a council could offer in such circumstances. I do not consider that this warrants an investigation by the Ombudsman because we would not recommend any additional measures.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has taken sufficient action to remedy the injustice cause by the missed collections.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman