Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to provide suitable domestic waste bins and storage requirements at the flats where she lives. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains about the Council providing unsuitable waste bins and failing to instruct householders where to store and place then for collection. She says this has led to obstruction of a shared path and encouraged fly-tipping.

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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 Ms X submitted with her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response.

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What I found

4. Ms X lives in a block of flats with a common access path at the back. She says until 3 years ago the residents kept their own individual bins on their private paths. The Council then provided wheeled bins which some residents have placed on the shared path for storage and collection. She says this has led to the path being obstructed and encouraged fly-tipping by some residents. She wants the Council to provide smaller bins with individual numbers for each resident.
5. The Council told Ms X that it is committed to wheeled bin collection. It wrote to residents and recently reviewed the types of bin they have. It has replaced several small wheeled bins with larger ones with higher capacity. Ms X says this has made the obstruction of the shared path worse in some cases.
6. The Council is the waste collection authority and it has to decide where bins are placed and what type should be provided. It has tried to alleviate the problems and has written to residents about the changes and asked for their co-operation. It says it will continue to monitor the situation and take action where residents do not comply with the waste collection arrangements. It told Ms X that the shared path is not a public highway and it has no intention of adopting it in the future.
7. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. It is clear that some residents are failing to act responsibly with regard to storing their waste containers and the Council is taking action as far as it can.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman