Summary: Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste since July 2019. This has led to a build-up of waste which smells and has attracted rats. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s household waste amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste since July 2019. This has led to a build-up of waste which smells and has attracted rats.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

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. 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

8. Mr X complains that although the Council routinely collects the recycling from his apartment block, it has not collected the household waste since July 2019. This had led to a significant build up of waste which is unpleasant and has attracted rats.
9. According to the Council’s records Mr X reported eight missed collections between August and October 2019. The reports are all closed which suggests the Council has since made the missed collections. The dates the reports were closed suggest the Council made over half the missed collections within a week of the report. For example, Mr X reported missed collections on 15 and 23 August 2019 and the Council closed these reports on 19 and 23 August 2019.
10. However, Mr X disputes that the Council made these collections. On 19 August 2019 Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council about the collections service. He complained the Council had not collected his household waste for a month. Mr X stated he had reported the missed collections and the Council had said it would collect it within two days but had not. He reported that the bins were overflowing, and the excess waste was attracting pests. Mr X considered this to be a health and safety hazard and asked the Council to make regular weekly collections.
11. The Council responded in early September 2019. It apologised for the delay in collecting the waste and noted it had now been collected. Mr X told the Council his household waste had still not been collected, and he was reporting this every week. Mr X and his neighbours had also begun reporting the problems to their MP.
12. The Council apologised for the continued problems with Mr X’s household waste collections. It confirmed the depot were aware of the problem and were monitoring the situation. The Council stated the crews had experienced difficulties in accessing the site due to cars parked on the adjoining street. It stated a manager from the depot would visit Mr X to discuss the problem. According to the Council’s records a manager visited Mr X’s property, but he was not at home.
13. As the problem of missed collections continued, Mr X asked the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint. Mr X was disappointed by the Council’s response and did not accept its explanation as the recycling crew were able to access his apartment block without problem.
14. In response to my enquiries the Council states Mr X’s street is narrow and parked cars can cause additional difficulties for refuse collection vehicles. It had carried out household waste collections over the last few months via a sack vehicle which can negotiate tight spaces easier than a standard bin vehicle. From March 2020 the Council has moved Mr X’s household waste collections to an alley cat vehicle which is narrower than a standard vehicle. It has already been using an alley cat vehicle to collect Mr X’s recycling for some time.
15. The Council also arranged to monitor Mr X’s household waste collections for three months.

Analysis

16. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Mr X’s household waste. These failings in the service amounts to fault.
17. The Council was aware of the problems in collecting the household waste and accepts it has missed collections. It states Mr X has reported a total of eight missed collections, but I consider it likely the Council missed significantly more collections. It is also questionable whether the Council collected the missed waste as quickly as its records suggest.
18. Mr X’s complaint states the Council has not collected his household waste for over a month and he challenges the Council’s assertion in its response that it had now collected the waste. The Council’s subsequent response does not dispute this, but instead acknowledges there are ongoing issues in collecting his household waste.
19. I do not therefore consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections, or when it actually collected the household waste. It is concerning that the Council appears to have closed the reports of missed collections when it had not collected the waste.
20. I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has dealt with Mr X’s complaints. The Council acknowledged there were issues in collecting household waste form Mr X’s apartment block in October 2019 but should have been aware of the problems sooner. Aside from Mr X reporting missed collections, I would have expected the collections crews to have reported any persistent problems in accessing the block which meant they could not make the collections.
21. I recognise the Council moved Mr X’s building to an alley cat collection vehicle in March 2020 and began monitoring the collections but consider it should have taken action to address the issues sooner.
22. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mr X an injustice. Mr X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected waste left at his property and has experienced the problems associated with the build-up of uncollected waste. That is unpleasant smells, excess waste on the ground and rodents. He has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mr X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

23. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the failure to make regular household waste collections has caused.
24. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

25. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mr X’s household waste amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman