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. He also complains the Council did not properly investigated his complaints or resolve the problem. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s recycling amounts to fault. As does the failure to investigate his complaints and resolve the problem. This fault has 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. Mr X also complains the Council has not properly investigated his complaints or taken action to address or resolve the problem.

Back to top

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’. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

5. 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.
6. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
7. At the end of December 2018 collection crews began industrial action. The Council introduced a contingency plan to make one collection for all waste types each week rather than separate collections of household waste and recycling. The crews began working to rule on 29 December 2018 and the first full day of industrial action was 19 February 2019.
8. The Council moved to a fortnightly collection for all waste types in February 2019. When the industrial action ended in mid-March 2019, the Council returned to weekly household and fortnightly recycling collections.
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 complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his recycling on the scheduled days. He has reported the missed collections and made complaints to the Council, but the missed collections continued. Mr X questions the efficacy of the Council’s complaint investigations and is not satisfied by the general nature of the responses he has received.
11. The Council’s records show Mr X reported five missed collections between May and October 2019. 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. For example, Mr X reported a missed collection on 4 October 2019, which the Council closed on 18 October 2019. As Mr X reported a further missed collection on 18 October 2019, it is questionable whether the Council completed the missed collection that day.
13. The Council then closed missed collection reported on 18 October 2019 on 11 November 2019, this would suggest the collections scheduled for 1 November 2019 was also missed.
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 where they are different to the date the report was closed.
15. The Council states the depots can monitor reports of missed collections by analysing their dropped work spreadsheets to see if certain streets/addresses start to appear frequently. This report shows eight missed collection from Mr X’s property/ the whole street between May and October 2019.
16. In addition to reporting missed collections, Mr X also formally complained to the Council about the poor service. In early May 2019 Mr X complained his recycling collection had been missed again. Mr X referred to this as the latest in a long line of missed collections which he had reported via the Council’s previous system. Mr X asked the Council to investigate and explain why his bin had been missed again and to confirm what it would do to ensure it did not happen again.
17. The Council apologised for the missed collections and said the service had been affected by disruptions since January 2019 which had resulted in missed collections. There were still a number of ongoing operational difficulties which it was working to resolve. The Council had passed Mr X’s complaint to the service manager who had spoken to the crew and reminded them of Mr X’s collection.
18. Mr X complained again in early July 2019 as the problem had not been resolved and further collections had been missed. The Council again apologised for the shortcomings in the service. It explained operational difficulties had impacted significantly on the recycling collections in his area. The Council advised Mr X to leave the bins out for collection, and any excess waste would be cleared on the next scheduled collection if it could not make a collection before then.
19. As Mr X was not satisfied with this response Mr X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint. In response to my enquiries the Council states a number of factors appear to have contributed to Mr X’s missed collections. There have been changes to the routes, staff absence, and an error on the route with crews believing bins for properties in Mr X’s street would be presented in one place.
20. The Council has monitored Mr X’s recent recycling collections and states they have been completed satisfactorily.

Analysis

21. It is clear from the documentation I have received that there have been repeated failings in the Council’s service which amount to fault.
22. The Council accepts that collections have been missed, and that there will have been delays in these missed collections being made. Its records of Mr X’s reported missed collections, when the collections were subsequently made, and the reports closed appear to be incomplete and inconsistent. I consider it likely that there were more missed collections than the Council’s records suggest.
23. 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 reminded the crew members and regular collections would be made, the service did not improve, and the missed collections continued. The Council’s responses did not provide an explanation for the missed collections. It is unclear when the Council identified the crew’s misunderstanding about the collection point for bins on Mr X’s street. Had the Council properly investigated Mr X’s complaint at the outset, the problem could have been identified and resolved sooner.
24. I recognise the Council has now monitored Mr X’s collections and this should also lead to an improvement.
25. 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.

Agreed action

26. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £100 in recognition of the frustration, difficulties and financial expense the failure to make regular recycling collections has caused.
27. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

28. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s recycling amounts to fault. As does the failure to investigate his complaints and resolve the problem. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman