Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste from her block of flats on the scheduled days or in a timely manner when collections are missed since September 2018. The Council’s failure to make regular communal waste collections and resolve issues of accumulated waste amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste from her block of flats on the scheduled days or in a timely manner when collections are missed since September 2018. The repeated missed collections have led to an accumulation of waste on the ground around the communal bins which has in turn led to a significant rodent problem.
2. Mrs X also complains that when the collections crews do empty the bins, they do not take the additional accumulated waste, and do not return the bins to storage point.
3. Mr Y has complained to the Ombudsman on Mrs X’s behalf.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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

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

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

7. 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.
8. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
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. Mrs X lives in a block of flats, serviced by communal bins. She complains that household waste collections have been irregular and repeatedly missed since September 2018. When collections are missed the waste accumulates around the communal bins. It causes an unpleasant smell and attracts rats and birds.
11. As Mrs X lives in a flat the Council’s system does not allow her to report missed collections online. Mrs X instead submitted formal complaints to the Council about the missed collections. In October 2018 Mrs X complained that since August 2018 the Council had collected their waste once every three weeks. This meant the bins were overflowing and rubbish was left on the ground for weeks. Mrs X provided photographs of the communal bins and surrounding area.
12. The Council passed the complaint to a collection manager who apologised and undertook to interview the crew to ensure there were no further problems. Mrs X contacted the Council at the end of November 2018 and complained the Council had only made one scheduled collection in the month since her initial complaint. As the collection manager had not resolved the issue and the accumulated waste outside the flats was now much worse, Mrs X asked the Council to review her complaint.
13. Mrs X made a further complaint in early December 2018. She considered the accumulated waste at the front of the block of flats was an environmental health concern. Mrs X reported the collection crew had visited yesterday for the first time in a long time, and had collected the bags from the ground, but not emptied the bins. She questioned why the collection crew would be allowed to do this.
14. In response, the Council confirmed it had tasked a manager with resolving the issue to ensure they received regular collections. They would interview the crew again and instruct them to make collections from her property. The Council also confirmed it would include Mrs X’s property on the crew’s checklist to ensure that even if the regular driver was off, collections were made.
15. Despite the Council’s assurances, Mrs X states the problems continued and she made a further complaint in May 2019. The Council again advised steps would be taken to ensure the communal containers were collected.
16. Mrs X states she also contacted her MP, but the problems persisted. Mrs X made a further complaint to the Council in August 2019. She complained the Council made irregular collections but would not take any bags on the ground around the communal bins. This meant that as soon as the bins were emptied, they were immediately filled again with the bags that had been left. The accumulated waste had led to an infestation of rats. Mrs X also complained the collection crew did not return the bins to the storage point.
17. In addition, Mrs X complained the Council’s responses to her earlier complaints had been generic assurances that the matter had been passed to a manager. This had not resolved the problems, and Mrs X did not consider this was good enough. Mrs X provided photographs which she said showed the front of the building looked like a recycling centre. In addition to household waste, items such as beds had been left by the bins for months.
18. The Council responded to advise it could not find any calls relating to missed refuse collections from Mrs X’s property. It did however note there had been problems with residents contaminating the recycling bins. The Council also noted that Mrs X’s photographs showed the bins were empty. It confirmed it would ask the crew to ensure the bins were returned to the storage point in future. The Council suggested Mrs X refer the fly tipped rubbish shown in her photographs to the Caretaker or Estate Manager.
19. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response and suggested it had not read her complaint properly. Mrs X had not referred to calls about missed collections, but to the several complaints she had made. She acknowledged the bins in the photographs were empty, but stated the photos also showed the bags on the ground around the bins which the crew had left. She asserted these bags were household rubbish which the crew had not collected, rather than fly tipping. Mrs X asked the Council to ensure their waste was collected on time, and where a collection was late, that the collection crew also took bags of household waste left on the ground.
20. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and advised it had spoken to the depot manager and caretaker. The Council could not increase the frequency of collections but agreed to provide an additional container. It also confirmed the caretaker was doing their utmost to keep on top of anti-social behaviour, including dumped rubbish. And Waste Enforcement would investigate the dumping and if possible, obtain witness statements.
21. Mr Y has asked the Ombudsman to investigate Mrs X’s complaints. The Council delivered another container at the end of September 2019. Mr X states this has helped, but there are still missed collections and a problem with bags of waste around the bins. He does not consider the Council has done enough to tackle the problem of excess waste left around the bins.
22. In response to my enquiries the Council states Mrs X has only reported two missed collection in the last 12 months. The first in December 2018, and the second in August 2019. The Council states the report of 27 August 2019 was passed to the wrong depot on 6 September 209 and closed on 2 December 2019 without ever being reallocated. It apologises for this error.
23. The Council states two reports of missed collections does not suggest a repeated failure to collect waste from these flats and is not sufficient evidence of missed container collections to justify setting up monitoring. The Council provided an additional container in September 2019 and states there have been no further reports of missed collections since then.
24. In relation to the bins not being returned to the storage point, the Council states there was a misunderstanding about who was responsible for returning emptied containers to the bin store. A Depot Manager has re-confirmed to the collection crew that it is a part of their role to return empty containers to the bin store every week.
25. In terms of managing the waste left around the bins, the Council states the Waste Prevention Team issued education letters about the correct disposal of waste to all flats and houses in late October 2019. It had also previously issued leaflets to Mrs X’s block of flats in June 2018.
26. Housing services have confirmed that tenants dumping rubbish by the communal areas is a problem and has been for many years. Officers and caretakers have undertaken bag searches to identify the perpetrators. When they identify residents/ tenants they speak to them and refer them to environmental services for fixed penalty notices where appropriate.
27. The housing department has also set up a tipper truck service to move fly tipping from in and around blocks of flats.
28. The Council states the caretakers monitor the recycling bins daily, but there is still a problem with contamination. This problem has been compounded recently with issues with bin collections and collections days. If collections are late or missed, residents fill recycling bins with mixed domestic waste.
29. Where there is an accumulation of bags around the bins because of a missed collection, the Council states the caretaker will move the residual waste and put it on a tipper if they deem it to be a health and safety issue.

Analysis

30. The Council states Mrs X has only reported two missed collections in the last 12 months, and there is no evidence of repeated failures to collect the waste. But it is clear from Mrs X’s correspondence with the Council and the documentation provided that there have been repeated issues with the waste collection service. Mrs X has made repeated complaints about the problems associated with missed, delayed and partial collections of the communal bins serving her block of flats.
31. The Council’s responses do not dispute there have been missed collections but repeatedly assure Mrs X managers will speak to the crews to ensure the problem is resolved and they get regular collections.
32. It is also clear from the information provided that the Council has been aware of the problems with waste collections and dumping/ excess waste at Mrs X’s property for some time. It acknowledges that missed household waste collections also exacerbate problems with contaminated recycling.
33. I consider there have been repeated failings in the Council’s waste collection service which amount to fault. There is sufficient evidence the Council knew, or should have known, about the ongoing problems of missed collections and accumulated waste at Mrs X’s property.
34. I recognise the Council tried to resolve the issues in September 2019 by providing another container. This is a positive step which Mr X confirms has improved, if not resolved, the situation. However, as Mrs X has been complaining about the waste collection service since October 2018, I consider the Council should have taken action sooner.
35. I also note the Council is taking action, through the introduction of a tipper truck service, to deal with fly tipping. This is again a positive step which should lead to an improvement in the environment in front of Mrs X’s flat. Particularly as the Council states the caretaker can also move excess waste to the tipper following missed collections.
36. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. Mrs X has had to pass large amounts of uncollected waste each time she enters or leaves her property, over a sustained period of time. The accumulated waste means the area not only looks untidy, attracts rodents and causes unpleasant smells, but also encourages the dumping of larger items.
37. Mrs X has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed and partial collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. She has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

38. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular communal waste collections or resolve the problem has caused.
39. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.
40. The Council has also agreed to monitor the communal waste collections from Mrs X’s property for a period of six weeks to ensure collections are made on the scheduled days and the bins are returned to the storage point. This monitoring should begin within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

41. The Council’s failure to make regular communal waste collections and resolve issues of accumulated waste amount to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman