Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about missed garden waste collections. This is because some of the missed collections were due to industrial action and are therefore outside our jurisdiction. The remaining injustice to Mrs X is not significant enough to warrant the Ombudsman’s involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about missed garden waste collections during 2019.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

5. Mrs X complains about seven missed garden waste collections during 2019. This is a service she pays £40 a year for. Mrs X has asked the Council to refund her £2 for each missed collection – a total of £14. The Council has refused Mrs X’s request because its policy is to only issue refunds if three collections in a row are missed.
6. Birmingham City Council’s waste collection services have been affected by industrial action in 2019. This has affected ‘all or most’ of the people in the Council’s area. As I explain in paragraph 2, we cannot consider complaints that fall under this heading.
7. The Council’s response to my enquiries show that two of the missed collections are likely to have been due to industrial action. We cannot therefore take them into account when assessing the injustice to Mrs X. The Council’s records show four other missed collections during 2019, although Mrs X says there have been five.
8. Missed waste collections are annoying and frustrating. I understand how disappointed Mrs X is with the service she has received. There would also seem to have been problems with Mrs X’s collections in previous years. But, even with five missed collections, I do not think the injustice to Mrs X is significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman. I note there have been no missed collections since August 2019, and the situation has hopefully now been resolved.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the injustice to Mrs X is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman