Summary: Mr B complains there have been repeated failures by the Council to collect his household waste and recycling. He says the problems started when the collection day changed. He says the Council did not respond properly to his complaint. There was fault in the Council’s consideration of Mr B’s complaint but no further action is necessary.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains there have been repeated failures by the Council to collect his household waste and recycling. He says the problems started when the collection day changed. He says the Council did not respond properly to his complaint.

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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’. 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 considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr B and spoke to him. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Mr B and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Summary of events

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 records show that Mr B reported one missed collection in 2018 and two in 2019. He said that there had been a recent missed collection which he had reported to the Council. The Council’s records don’t show when a return visit was made to clear the missed collection.
7. Mr B complained to the Council in 2019. The Council responded at stage one of its complaint process. Mr B was not satisfied and made a stage two complaint. In his correspondence he asked a number of questions of the Council. The Council replied but did not respond to each of the questions he had asked.
8. As part of its consideration of his complaint an officer visited him and it later sent letters to the residents explaining that there were problems because of parking in the road where Mr B lives.

Analysis

9. There have not been significant, repeated problems with collections since the Council responded to Mr B’s complaint. In saying that I note there has been a recent incident. But Mr B was particularly aggrieved because he considered the Council’s response to his complaint at stage two was not adequate.
10. It is the case that the stage two response does not respond to all the questions Mr B raised. The Council does not have to respond to every query someone raises but if it is not going to do so it should explain why it considers it does not have to. That did not happen here and the stage two response is not an adequate reply to Mr B’s complaint. But I do not consider that any further action is now necessary given there is not a significant ongoing problem with collections.

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Final decision

11. There was fault in the Council’s consideration of Mr B’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman