Summary: Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his recycling on the scheduled days, or in a timely manner when collections are missed, for approximately eight months. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s recycling amounts to fault. As does the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. These faults have caused Mr X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his recycling on the scheduled days, or in a timely manner when collections are missed, for approximately eight months. Mr X states his neighbours’ recycling is routinely collected, but his assisted collections are missed.
2. Mr X also complains that despite repeatedly reporting the missed collections and making complaints the problem has not been resolved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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’. 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)
4. 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

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the information provided by Mr X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the complaint with Mr X; and
• sent a statement setting out my draft decision to Mr X and the Council and invited their comments.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

6. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
7. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
8. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
9. When a missed collection is reported to the Council, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the collection is complete, the Council closes the report.

What happened here

10. Mr X receives assisted collections. He complains that the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his recycling, despite collecting the recycling from his neighbours’ properties.
11. The Council’s records show Mr X reported 12 missed recycling collections over the last 12 months. The reports are all closed which indicates the missed collections have since been made. However, the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the collections were all made in a timely manner. The records also suggest that other collections were also missed.
12. Mr X reported that all scheduled collections in April and May 2019 were missed. The Council closed the reports of 26 March, 4 April and 17 April 2019 on 7 May 2019. But did not close the report of 26 April 2019 until 30 May 2019. If the Council made a collection on 7 May 2019, it could have closed the report of 26 April 2019 that day too.
13. Similarly, Mr X reported missed collections on 11 June and 23 July 2019, and the Council closed these reports on 6 August and 12 September 2019 respectively. Again, if the Council had collected missed recycling on 6 August 2019, it could have closed both reports that day. The closure dates also suggest that other collections were also missed. These anomalies call into question the accuracy of the Council’s records.
14. The Council states there may be a delay between the missed collections being made and the report being closed, so it is not necessarily the case that the intervening collections were also missed. However, the Council has not provided evidence of the dates the missed collections were made.
15. In addition to reporting missed collections, Mr X also complained to the Council. On 23 March 2019 Mr X complained the crews were not routinely collecting his recycling and when they did, they did not put the bins back. The Council apologised for the inconvenience and confirmed it had passed his complaint to the service manager and would remind the crews of Mr X’s assisted collections.
16. On 18 April 2019 Mr X complained again that his recycling was still being missed. He reported his recycling had been missed for two months and asked for fortnightly collections and for his bins to be put back. In its response the Council confirmed it had alerted the service manager and asked that they reiterate the assisted collection process to the crews.
17. As Mr X is not satisfied by the Council’s actions, he has asked the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint. Mr X complained his recycling had not been collected for months. He stated the constant ringing and chasing the Council to report missed collections was getting him down and affecting his wellbeing. Mr X states he is always told someone will ring him back, but they never do.
18. In response to my enquiries the Council states it has asked the Service Manager to reiterate the assisted collection process to the recycling crew in question. The Council also states it will monitor Mr X’s next two assisted collections. This monitoring can be extended if the Council finds that collections are missed during this period. As Mr X has reported problems with both of these collections the Council has agreed to monitor two further assisted recycling collections.

Analysis

19. It is clear from the documentation I have received that there have been repeated failings in the Council’s service which amount to fault. Mr X has not received regular recycling collections since March 2019.
20. The Council states Mr X reported twelve missed collections, but I consider it likely there were several more missed collections and delays in these missed collections being made. Given the anomalies in the Council’s records I do not consider them to be a reliable indication of when collections were missed, or recycling was collected from Mr X’s property.
21. I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has dealt with Mr X’s complaints. Despite the Council’s assurances it had spoken to the crew members and regular collections would be made, the service did not improve, and the missed collections continued.
22. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mr X an injustice. Mr X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected recycling left at his property. He has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mr X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
23. I recognise the Council is now monitoring Mr X’s collections and would expect this to improve the service.

Agreed action

24. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular collections has caused.
25. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

26. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s recycling amounts to fault. As does the Council's failure to resolve the problem. These faults have caused Mr X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman