Birmingham City Council (19 011 642)

Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 05 Jun 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Ms X complains the Council’s website routinely gives the wrong date for recycling collections from her property. This meant that Ms X was putting her recycling out in the wrong week, and it was not being collected. The repeated errors on the Council’s website regarding scheduled recycling collection dates amounts to fault. As does the Council’s delay in rectifying the error. These faults have caused Ms X an injustice.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X complains the Council’s website routinely gives the wrong date for recycling collections from her property. This meant that Ms X was putting her recycling out in the wrong week, and it was not being collected.
  2. Ms X is disappointed the Council has not corrected the error despite her complaints. She is concerned that other residents may not be aware the information on the Council’s website is wrong and are missing collections.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. 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

  1. As part of the investigation, I have:
    • considered the complaint and the documents provided by Ms X;
    • made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided; and
    • Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

  1. 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.
  2. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection. Residents can check the date of their next scheduled collection on the Council’s website.
  3. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.

What happened here

  1. Ms X states she had lots of missed recycling collections in the first half on 2019. In the summer of 2019, she realised the Council’s website gave the wrong day for collection. This meant she had been putting her bin out for collection on the wrong week and missing the collections.
  2. According to the Council’s records Ms X reported eight missed recycling collections in 2019. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, the dates these reports were closed do not suggest the Council made the collections in a timely manner. The records also suggest the Council also missed other collections.
  3. I note the Council did not close the missed collections Ms X reported in July and August 2019 until November 2019. This appears to have been as part of a bulk closure of reports, so it is unclear when the Council collected the missed recycling.
  4. In September 2019 Mrs X complained to the Council about incorrect information on its website. She stated her garden waste and recycling were collected on alternate weeks, but the website showed the Council would collect both the following day. Ms X asked the Council to correct the error.
  5. The Council responded the same day and advised the website was correct, and it would collect both the garden waste and recycling the following day. Ms X disputed this and asserted her garden waste and recycling had never been collected on the same day. She reiterated that the information on the website was incorrect and questioned why the Council had dismissed her complaint rather than investigate it.
  6. Ms X contacted the Council again in October 2019 as the Council was still collecting her recycling on a different date to that given on its website. The website said the Council would collect her recycling on 10 October 2019. As collections were fortnightly and the Council had collected her recycling on 3 October 2019, she was certain there would not be a collection on 10 October 2019.
  7. The Council stated it had confirmed Ms X’s garden and recycling collections were due on the same day, and that the next scheduled collection was 10 October 2019. Ms X disputed this, and the Council then identified a recycling vehicle had collected her recycling on 19 September and 3 October 2019. It would make further checks to confirm whether this was a temporary measure or a permanent change.
  8. On 11 October 2019, the Council apologised the information it had previously provided was factually incorrect. It confirmed it collected Ms X’s garden waste and recycling on alternate weeks and that it would amend its website to reflect this.
  9. Ms X asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint as the Council had not amended its website. The website still gave the incorrect collection date and Ms X was concerned other residents would rely on this information and miss collections. She was also disappointed and frustrated that having brought this error to the Council’s attention, it had not corrected the information.
  10. In response to my enquiries the Council states the scheduled recycling collection days for Ms X’s section of the road have never changed. But due to a technical error the wrong week was showing against each property (week 1 when it should have been week 2). This was reflected in the collection day information on the Council’s website. The Council states it rectified this issue on 26 February 2020.
  11. The Council states collection day information on the website feeds off data contained in the back-office system. It states that whenever it identifies any information is incorrect, it promptly amends it.

Analysis

  1. It is clear from the information available that there have been failings in the Council’s waste collections service which amount to fault.
  2. Residents are entitled to expect the information on the Council’s website to be correct, and to be able to rely on it. The Council’s website gave the incorrect day for recycling collections from Ms X’s section of the road for months, leading to numerous missed collections. This affected Ms X and her neighbours who also reported missed recycling collections.
  3. The Council accepts it has missed collections, and its records show there have been delays in making these missed collections. Had Ms X not noticed that the information on the Council’s website was wrong, and ignored it, the missed collections could have continued.
  4. I recognise the Council has now corrected the information on its website, but I consider the Council should have rectified the error sooner. Had the Council investigated Ms X’s complaint properly in September 2019 it could have identified the problem and corrected its website then. It is also disappointing that having accepted in October 2019 that the information on its website was incorrect, the Council did not correct it until late February 2020.
  5. Although the Council states it amends incorrect information promptly, it has not done so on this occasion.
  6. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Ms X an injustice. Ms X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected recycling left at her property. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to accept the information on its website was wrongs and then to correct it. Ms X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

  1. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £150 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the errors on the Council’s website and repeated missed recycling collections have caused.
  2. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

  1. The repeated errors on the Council’s website regarding scheduled recycling collection dates, which led to missed collections, amounts to fault. As does the Council’s delay in rectifying the error. These faults have caused Ms X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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