Summary: Mr B complains about problems with his assisted bin collection. The Council was at fault in failing to return his bins to the agreed location over a lengthy period and in failing to properly investigate the issue. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Mr B by monitoring his bin collection for two months, apologising and paying him £200.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains that, despite being on assisted bin collection, the Council has repeatedly failed to replace his bins in the agreed location.

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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 have considered all the information provided by Mr B and the Council.
5. I have written to Mr B and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments.

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What I found

Key facts

6. Mr B has an assisted bin collection as a result of his medical conditions. Assisted bin collection is a service for residents who struggle to move their bins because of their age or disability. The bin crew will collect the bins from an agreed location at the property and return them afterwards.
7. Mr B says the collection crews have failed to put his bins back in the agreed location on numerous occasions since 2017. They leave the bins outside his property blocking the footpath and his drive and he has to move the bins back to where they should be. Mr B also says the crews often leave his neighbours’ bins in the footpath or on his drive, so he has to move them as well. He says that, on one occasion, there were eight or nine bins blocking his drive.
8. Mr B complained to the Council in November 2017 that his bins were not being returned to the correct location. The Council apologised and explained that this was because of miscommunication between crews. It said the waste manager had spoken to the crew and Mr B’s property would be placed on the monitoring list for four weeks to ensure there were no further problems. The Council said officers would take a photograph of the bin once it had been emptied and returned to Mr B’s property.
9. In January 2018 Mr B wrote to the Council again stating the problem had not been resolved and had now been going on for over six months.
10. In February 2018 Mr B made another complaint about the bins not being returned to the correct location. The Council investigated the complaint at stage 1 of its complaints procedure and found that, although a period of monitoring had been carried out, the problems were continuing. It agreed to monitor the waste collection until it was confident the matter was resolved.
11. On 11 July 2018 Mr B wrote to the Council asking to escalate his complaint to stage 2 of its complaints procedure as the problems were continuing. Having received no response, Mr B wrote to the Council again on 26 July 2018 asking for a response to his stage 2 complaint. The Council responded explaining there was a backlog and he would receive a response as soon as possible.
12. On 23 August 2018 the Council wrote to Mr B. It apologised for the problems with his waste collection and said the waste supervisor had been informed. It did not escalate Mr B’s complaint to stage 2. Mr B replied again requesting that his complaint be reviewed.
13. On 3 September 2018 a complaints officer wrote to Mr B. He accepted the response he had received was not satisfactory and did not fully address his concerns. But the officer considered a review may be premature as waste services had failed to address the issue properly at stage 1. He asked for a waste officer to investigate the matter and issue a new stage 1 response.
14. Mr B responded explaining that he had complained about this issue several times but it had not been resolved. He also explained the Council treated his correspondence as a separate complaint on each occasion when it is one ongoing complaint. The Council did not respond.
15. In January 2019 Mr B chased a response to his complaint. The Council did not respond.
16. On 26 June 2019 Mr B submitted a further complaint about the same issue. The Council responded on 9 July 2019 stating that the crews had been spoken to about their responsibilities and returning the bins to the correct location. It also said Mr B’s property had been placed on the monitoring list and a waste supervisor would monitor all collections during the monitoring period to identify any issues.
17. Mr B responded requesting a review. The Council’s complaints team responded on 14 August 2019 stating that the complaint would not be considered at stage 2 but it would ask the waste department to monitor Mr B’s address to ensure the bins were returned to the correct location.
18. Mr B replied explaining the situation had been going on for over a year and involved at least five complaints with different numbers. He requested a solution to the problem.
19. Having received no response, Mr B complained to the Ombudsman. He says the problems are continuing.

Analysis

Assisted bin collection

20. Mr B has complained to the Council several times since 2017 about its failure to return his bin to the correct location. The Council accepts it has told him several times that his address will be monitored, the latest being in August 2019. But it cannot find any recent evidence to show officers have visited or issued instructions to the crew.
21. There is no evidence that the Council has carried out monitoring as promised. And, even if it has done so, this has clearly been ineffective resulting in Mr B having to make numerous complaints.
22. I therefore find the Council is at fault in repeatedly failing to return Mr B’s bins to the agreed location over a lengthy period of time causing him frustration and inconvenience. The Council accepts that, given the length of time Mr B has been complaining, the failure to identify the cause and find a long-term solution is disappointing.

The Council’s response to Mr B’s complaint

23. When Mr B requested that his complaint be escalated to stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure in July 2018, the Council failed to do so. It simply apologised for the problem and informed the waste supervisor.
24. Mr B again requested a review. The complaints officer accepted the waste officer’s response did not fully address Mr B’s concerns but treated the matter as a new issue rather than an ongoing complaint. He said a review may be premature and asked the waste officer to issue a new stage 1 response. Mr B explained he had complained about the same problem several times but it had not been resolved. He also explained that the Council repeatedly treated his correspondence as a new complaint when it is one complaint about the same matter. The Council did not respond.
25. I find the Council was at fault in failing to escalate Mr B’s complaint to stage 2.
26. Mr B submitted a further complaint in June 2019. The Council responded stating that the crews had been spoken to and Mr B’s property had been placed on a monitoring list. He requested a review. The complaints team responded stating that Mr B’s complaint would not be considered at stage 2 but that the waste department would be asked to monitor the address.
27. This was a further missed opportunity for the Council to review Mr B’s complaint and resolve the matter. Its failure to do so was fault.
28. The Council accepts that, within the last year, it has missed two opportunities to review Mr B’s complaint. This caused Mr B a significant injustice as he suffered further frustration and was put to time and trouble in repeatedly pursuing the matter with the Council and, ultimately, the Ombudsman.

Agreed action

29. To remedy the injustice caused to Mr B the Council has agreed that, within one month of this decision, it will:
• apologise to Mr B for the frustration and inconvenience caused by its failure to return his bins to the agreed location and its failure to properly respond to his complaints; and
• pay Mr B £150 to acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience he has been put to over a number of years as a result of the problems with his assisted bin collection and a further £50 in recognition of the time and trouble he has been put to as a result of the Council’s failure to escalate his complaint to stage 2 and provide a detailed response.
30. The Council has also agreed to monitor Mr B’s waste collections for two months (starting within one month of this decision) and report the results to the Ombudsman and to Mr B within a month of the final monitoring. If the monitoring shows a need for further action, the report will explain what action the Council will take.
31. The Council has confirmed that its complaints system is structured in a way that officers can identify other complaints made by the same person. It accepts Mr B’s complaints were not linked and escalated for review in a timely way and has now reminded officers of the process they are expected to follow to avoid this situation occurring in future.

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Final decision

32. I find the Council was at fault in failing to return Mr B’s bins to the agreed location, once emptied. It was also at fault in failing to escalate his complaint to stage 2.
33. I have completed my investigation on the basis that the Council has agreed to implement the recommended remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman