Summary: Mr B complains about confusing information given to him by the Council in connection with the disposal of waste shredded paper. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint as it is unlikely we can add to the investigation already carried out by the Council and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council has given him unclear information about how to dispose of shredded paper and that a Council employee told him to dispose of his shredder. Having followed this instruction, he now seeks a reimbursement of the cost of the shredder.

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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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and the Council. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

4. For a number of years Mr B shredded his confidential papers and the Council collected this waste.
5. In 2019 Mr B contacted the Council about the collection of this waste material and it wrote to him in June to explain in some detail how particular waste is dealt with by its recycling facility. The letter explained that shredded paper had never been acceptable for recycling at its facility and the reason for this.
6. The letter also explained the different ways Mr B could dispose of shredded paper and the options it gave covered disposal in his general household waste bin, taking a cardboard box filled with the shredded paper to his local Household Waste Recycling Site which can accept this material or placing it in a compost bin.
7. Subsequently the Council also advised him that while in the past it had been able to accept shredded paper with the garden waste, it could no longer do this as its recycling plant no longer accepts it.
8. During Mr B’s contact with the Council about this matter he says he spoke on the telephone to an officer who told him he needed to dispose of his paper shredder and he followed this instruction. On finding out he could continue to shred his papers he sought a reimbursement from the Council to cover the cost of the shredder but it declined to provide this. The Council told Mr B that while it does not record calls, its contact centre did try to trace the telephone number Mr B provided in order to identify the operative he had spoken to. However, it could not find a record of the call and assumed this was because Mr B had called using a withheld number.

Assessment

9. I understand Mr B has been confused about what to do with his shredded paper and that in the past he had previously had the shredded paper collected when placed in his paper recycling bin in a carrier bag. However, this is not an option open to him now and the Council has explained what he can do with the waste.
10. Mr B says he never received the Council’s June 2019 letter. However, while this is unfortunate, a Council manager also discussed the matter with him during a telephone conversation in October and emailed him, noting that a copy of the June 2019 letter was attached to the email.
11. Mr B says he was told by an officer that the Council does record telephone calls and that it would be able to trace the call during which he says he was directed to dispose of his shredder. However, the Council could not trace it so there is no independent corroboration of what took place. This is unfortunate but an investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome and there are no outstanding issues which warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we can add to the investigation already carried out by the Council and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman