Summary: Although the Council accepted that it failed to arrange regular collections of Mr B’s bins in late 2019, it took remedial action before he complained to the Ombudsman, and it has collected his bins consistently in 2020. This means it is unlikely we could add to what the Council has already done, and we have discontinued our investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr B, complained to the Ombudsman in December 2019. He said the Council failed to collect his bins regularly for most of 2019. He said that, although the Council had accepted its failures in late November, the collection issues had continued into December.
2. Mr B said the continued missed collections meant his and his neighbours’ rubbish was piling up, as it had done in 2019. He said he wanted the Council to ensure its contractor collected the bins when it was supposed to.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 could add to any previous investigation by the Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mr B and the Council. I gave both parties an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mr B complained to the Council in late 2019, and said it had failed to regularly collect his bins throughout the year.
6. The Council monitored its contractor’s collections of Mr B’s bins in October and November 2019. It accepted that most collections were missed during that period.
7. At the end of November, in response to Mr B’s complaint, the Council said the main reason why the contractor missed collections was because of access problems, some of which was caused by parked vehicles. It also said the contractor may not have had a key to the bin area next to Mr B’s block of flats.
8. The Council told Mr B that it had provided a new key to its contractor. It said it would continue to monitor the collections of Mr B’s bins until the contractor was delivering a good service.
9. Mr B complained to the Ombudsman in December, and in January 2020 he said that, despite the Council’s complaint response, he continued to experience missed collections.
10. Mr B has now confirmed that, since January, the Council has not missed any waste collections.

Analysis

11. It is clear that the Council failed to collect Mr B’s bins as often as it should have. However, it accepted this before Mr B approached the Ombudsman, and put measures in place to improve his service. The question is whether there is any value to carrying out a further investigation.
12. Mr B’s main issue was that, despite the Council admitting its failures, his service did not improve. However, this is no longer the case. Mr B says no waste collections have been missed for several months.
13. This means that the Council’s investigation and remedial action apparently led to an improvement in the service it provides to Mr B. His desired outcome has been met, and he has no ongoing injustice.
14. Because of this, I consider it unlikely I could add to what the Council has already done, and I will discontinue my investigation.

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Final decision

15. I have discontinued my investigation into Mr B’s complaint, as it is unlikely I could add to the previous investigation by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman