Summary: Mr C says the Council failed to provide an adequate refuse collection service over several months in 2019. The Council was at fault but it has already taken steps to remedy the problem. Recent development and narrow roads have made it difficult for refuse lorries to access Mr C’s refuse area. Cars frequently obstruct the path for larger vehicles. The Council has taken steps to address the problem and the number of complaints has reduced. Should the problem recur, Mr C can complain again.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Mr C, says the Council has failed to provide an adequate refuse collection service. He says
1. waste was on occasion not removed for weeks on end; and
2. domestic and green waste collections were mixed together.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. 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

4. I spoke to Mr C. I wrote an enquiry letter to the Council. I considered the Council’s response alongside the relevant law before writing a draft decision.
5. I sent a copy of my draft decision to the Council and Mr C. Neither had any comments to make and I made my final decision in essentially the same terms as the draft.

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What I found

What should happen

6. Section.45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (’The EPA’) says councils have a duty to collect household waste.

What happened

7. Mr C lives in a town in the Council’s area. The Council collects green waste and general waste once every two weeks on alternating weeks. Mr C lives in a development with a shared waste collection point. Residents put waste in large communal bins for collection. In early 2019, Mr C observed that these bins were not emptied for five weeks. He contacted the Council.
8. He says that no action was taken so he contacted the Council again. The bins were not, he says, emptied for ten days. Mr C complained.
9. Mr C says that, while officers he spoke to were uniformly polite, the delays in waste collection were unacceptable. He says that there was a repeat incident in November 2019 where household waste was not collected for several weeks.

Was there fault causing injustice?

Missed collections

10. In its response to my enquiries, the Council accepts there has been a problem for some time in Mr C’s area which has been exacerbated by recent development. Bin crews have not been able to reach the rubbish collection area for Mr C’s block on various occasions. The Council received about 100 complaints in ten months.
11. The Council says there is limited turning space to the rear of the development so lorry drivers are loath to risk driving down to the communal bins as they fear they may not be able to turn around and get out again.
12. The Council’s environmental health department asked parking enforcement officers to patrol the area to improve access for bin lorries. Unfortunately, these officers can only place tickets on cars parked on yellow lines and there are no yellow lines in the area.
13. The Council asked the county council, which is the highways authority in the area, to put in yellow lines but says the county council says this is unlikely.
14. The Council has changed the driver because some drivers are happier to drive down the narrow roads than others. It has asked a local councillor to communicate to residents the consequences of obstructing the route. Leaflets have been placed on car windscreens to explain the situation.
15. While I accept that the road layout makes collections difficult, the Council has a duty to make collections. It cannot, of course, do the impossible, but it must make reasonable efforts to ensure an adequate service.
16. In early 2019, the standard of collections fell below what is acceptable. However, the Council has tried various strategies to improve the situation by informing drivers of the consequences of thoughtless parking and changing the driver. It has also looked into the possibility of using parking control.
17. Mr C says there was a further problem with the waste in his block in November. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the measures introduced have improved matters. It is clear that factors beyond the Council’s control mean that, for the foreseeable future, there will be periodic problems. If the Council makes genuine and effective efforts to deal with them, it is not at fault.
18. The Council says it has not had a report of access issues for some time and, certainly, the evidence it has provided suggests there has been improvement. It also says it will continue to keep the matter under review and try to find a solution to the ongoing access problems.
19. Therefore, I find that the Council has remedied the fault there was. Of course, if matters deteriorate, Mr C and others can complain again.

Mixing domestic and green waste

20. Mr C also says the Council mixes domestic and green waste when it takes it away. The Council denies this. It says it does green waste collections separately. It says it may, if a resident is particularly insistent, take some domestic waste with the green but this is the exception, not the rule. This seems a reasonable explanation and I do not, therefore, find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman