Summary: Miss X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her refuse sacks on the scheduled day despite emptying her neighbours’ wheelie bins. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Miss X’s household waste amounts to fault. This fault has caused an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her refuse sacks on the scheduled day or in a timely manner when collections are missed. Not all properties on Miss X’s street, including her own, are suitable for wheelie bins. Miss X states the Council routinely empties the bins but leaves the refuse sacks presented by those who do not have bins.

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 information provided by Miss X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided; and
• Miss 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. Miss X lives on a newly built road. She states the Council initially provided residents with wheelie bins, but due to issues with storage and obstruction of the pathway, it removed them. Residents, including Miss X now present their household waste for collection in refuse sacks. Miss X complains that although the Council collects the waste from properties on the adjoining street that have bins, it does not collect the sacks from her street.
9. According to the Council’s records, Miss X reported four missed household waste collections and two missed recycling collections in 2019. Miss X’s neighbours also reported missed collections between August and November 2019. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, 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.
10. On 23 April 2019 Miss X reported the Council had missed a collection scheduled for 20 April 2019. The Council closed this report on 8 May 2019, which suggests it also missed collections scheduled for 27 April and 1 May 2019. If the Council had made these collections, it could have closed the report on those dates.
11. Similarly, Miss X reported a missed collection which should have taken place on 20 September 2019 and the Council closed this report on 8 October 2019. This again suggests the Council missed the collections scheduled for 27 September and 4 October 2019. The Council’s records show other residents reported a missed collection on 4 October 2019.
12. 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.
13. In addition to reporting missed collections, Miss X also made a formal complaint. In August 2019 she complained the Council did not consistently collect the refuse sacks. Crews would empty the bins on the adjoining street but did not take the sacks. The Council apologised for the poor service and delay in responding. It confirmed it had passed the complaint to the service manager who had reminded the collections crew of Miss X’s collection.
14. As this did not resolve the problem, Miss X asked the Council to review her complaint. She stated the Council had again not collected the refuse sacks for two weeks and cats had now ripped the sacks, so the waste was scattered on the street. The Council passed Miss X’s complaint to the service manager and assistant service manager so they could speak to the crews. It also confirmed it would carry out periodic monitoring to ensure the crew was collecting the sacks.
15. The problem of missed collections continued, and Miss X asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint. Miss X was frustrated that despite her complaints the Council was not collecting the refuse sacks and rubbish was building up in the street. She wanted the Council to either collect the refuse sacks or provide residents with bins.
16. In response to my enquiries the Council states Miss X’s street was not previously on a fixed collection round which meant resources were not always available. The Council changed this in December 2019 and arranged to provide wheelie bins. However, following a site visit in January 2020 the Council decided not to provide bins as there were inadequate storage facilities. Miss X’s street remains a sack collection, but the Council states the collections have stabilised since it established the new round and agreed a sack collection point. The Council states Miss X has not reported a missed collection since November 2019.
17. The Council arranged to monitor Miss X’s household waste collections for three months.
18. In relation to Miss X's concerns about the response to her complaints the Council states it uses template responses to ensure consistency of approach and content. The templates are intended to address the current situation and are regularly reviewed and updated. The Council acknowledges its initial response did not use the template and was not of the required standard. However, it notes its review response offered appropriate apologies and confirmed the action to be taken.
19. The Council states it has issued guidance to the depots on managing complaints and responses. These notes are designed to improve the quality of its responses.

Analysis

20. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Miss X’s household waste. These failings in the service amounts to fault.
21. The Council accepts it has missed collections, and that there will have been delays in making these missed collections. The Council states Miss X reported a total of six missed collections, but I consider it likely the Council missed more collections. There are inconsistencies in the Council’s records, and I note Miss X’s complaints refer to missed collections over the previous weeks which are not included in the Council’s records.
22. I do not consider the Council’s records to be a reliable indicator of the extent of the missed collections.
23. The Council has now resolved the problem by moving Miss X’s collections to a new round. This change and the Council’s monitoring of collections should ensure Miss X receives an improved service.
24. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Miss X an injustice. Miss X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected household waste left at her property and has experienced the problems associated with the build-up of uncollected waste. That is unpleasant smells and excess waste on the ground. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Miss X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

25. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the failure to make regular waste collections has caused.
26. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

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

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman