Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about waste bins being left on the pavement. It is unlikely he would find the complainant has been caused injustice that would justify his involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms B, has complained the Council has not acted to stop residents of a property near her home leaving waste bins on the pavement.

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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’.
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Ms B said in her complaint and background information provided by the Council. Ms B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

5. Ms B says residents of a property near her home often leave waste bins on the pavement after the Council has emptied them. She also some bins have their lid missing and the state of the pavement is an eyesore.
6. The Council says it has visited the property concerned and it is developing a strategy to deal with similar issues that occur across the City.

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Final decision

7. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because, while I understand Ms B’s concerns, we are unlikely to find fault by the Council can have caused her injustice that would warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman