Summary: Mrs X complains that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her recycling on the scheduled days or in a timely manner when collections are missed. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s recycling over a sustained period amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her recycling on the scheduled days or in a timely manner when collections are missed. Mrs X receives assisted collections and although her household waste is routinely collected, she complains her recycling has only been collected once since the end of the industrial action.

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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. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Mrs X; and
• Mrs 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

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. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
10. 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 I found

11. Mrs X states the Council has failed to collect her recycling as scheduled since the industrial action ended in March 2019. She states that although the Council routinely collects her neighbours’ recycling, it has only collected her recycling once in the last 12 months.
12. According to the Council’s records, Mrs X has reported 13 missed recycling collections since June 2019. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. Mrs X disputes this, but in any event the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the Council made the collections in a timely manner. The records also suggest the Council also missed other collections.
13. Mrs X reported missed collections on 26 June, 17 July and 2 August 2019, which the Council closed on 13 and 22 August and 17 September respectively. This is surprising as if the Council made a collection on 13 August 2019, it could have closed all three reports that day.
14. Similarly, Mrs X reported missed collections on 26 September, 8 and 18 October 2019. The Council closed the first report on 8 November 2019 but did not close the other reports until 19 November and 2 December 2019 respectively. Had the Council made the collections as its records suggest, it could have closed all three reports on 8 November 2019.
15. The Council states there may be a delay between when it goes out to collect a missed collection and when it closes the report, so it is not necessarily the case that it also missed the intervening collections. However, the Council has not provided evidence of the dates it made the missed collections where they are different to the date the report was closed.
16. Mrs X also made a formal complaint about the assisted collection service. In September 2019 she complained the Council had not collected her recycling since the end of the strike. She asked the Council to look into this and to resume her assisted collections. The Council confirmed it has passed Mrs X’s complaint to a manager who would investigate why her collections had stopped. They would also ensure the crews collected her recycling in the future.
17. The Council’s internal correspondence suggests there were inconsistencies in the way Mrs X’s property was identified on its systems which may have led to the missed collections.
18. Mrs X contacted the Council as she had not received its response to her complaint. In a further response, the Council confirmed it had escalated the matter to a manger. They would ensure she received assisted recycling collections as scheduled and that crews collected and returned her bin to property.
19. As the service did not improve Mrs X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint. She stated that despite the Council’s assurances, it was still not collected her recycling. This was particularly frustrating as the Council routinely collects her household waste and returns her bin. It also collected her neighbours’ recycling as scheduled while missing hers.
20. In response to my enquiries the Council confirmed that Mrs X has assisted collection status. It states it runs an assisted collection report at the start of each month with an updated list of all assisted collections. It then manually adds properties to each depot’s hard drive so they can print off and add this to crew information packs.
21. The Council has not offered an explanation for the missed recycling collections, but states there can be access issues to the a small cul-de-sac where Mrs X lives. Because of this, a long walk out is required to carry out assisted collections. The Council set up monitoring of Mrs X’s collections for a three-month period. It states a Depot Manager will also speak to the recycling crew about this matter.
22. Mrs X states the Council failed to collect her recycling on the first scheduled day of the monitoring period, but the service has since improved.

Analysis

23. It is clear from the Council’s records there have been repeated failing in the assisted collection service the Council provides to Mrs X. These failings in the service amount to fault.
24. The Council accepts it has missed collections, and that there will have been delays in making these missed collections. Its records of Mrs X’s reported missed collections, when it subsequently made the collections, and then closed the reports are incomplete and inconsistent.
25. The Council states Mrs X has reported a total of 13 missed recycling collections, but I consider it likely the Council missed significantly more collections. There are inconsistencies in the Council’s records, and Mrs X’s is clear she has not had any scheduled recycling collections since March 2019.
26. I do not therefore consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections, or whether it actually collected the recycling. It is concerning that the Council appears to have closed the reports of missed collections when it had not collected the recycling.
27. The Council has confirmed Mrs X is registered for assisted collections and this should be recorded on mobile technology within the collection vehicles and in the crew packs. It is therefore unclear why Mrs X’s recycling routinely missed when her neighbours’ is collected.
28. I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has dealt with Mrs 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.
29. I recognise the Council is now monitoring Mrs X’s collections and would expect this to lead to an improvement.

Agreed action

30. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £300 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted recycling collections has caused.
31. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

32. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s recycling over a sustained period amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman