Summary: Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling on the scheduled day. The Ombudsman finds the Council at fault. However, the Council has taken action to address the issues and Mr X has no significant unremedied injustice for which we would recommend any further remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to here as Mr X, says the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling on the scheduled day, or promptly when collections are missed.
2. Due to the missed bins, Mr X has had to take his waste to other sites to dispose of it. Mr X says this has caused him a great deal of time and trouble.

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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’. 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)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information and documents provided by Mr X and the Council. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint. I sent a draft copy of this decision to both parties for their comments. I considered all comments before making my final decision.
6. I have considered the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, set out below.

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What I found

The law, policy and practice

7. Councils have a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling free of charge. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use. Councils can also make a charge to replace stolen or damaged bins.
8. Councils provide an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. In such cases, councils should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
9. Most councils also provide discretionary services to collect garden waste and bulky items. Councils increasingly charge for these services. Councils also charge to collect waste generated by businesses (commercial waste).
10. Many councils use a contractor to provide their waste and recycling services on their behalf. In such cases the council retains ultimate responsibility for ensuring the quality of the service and being accountable if things go wrong. The contractor may initially respond to reports of problems or complaints but the council retains ownership. Outsourced should not mean out of touch.

What happened

11. The Council introduced changes to its waste services 14 October 2019. It has accepted that this caused delays and bins were missed mainly because of the time needed for crews to familiarise themselves with each route.
12. Mr X complained to the Council twice due to missed bins following the service changes.
13. The Council sent Mr X a stage one reply in November 2019. Mr X had complained about the Council missing his black recycling bin collection four times since the changes to its waste services. The Council apologised to Mr X for the issues he had experienced. It said it was aware of issues with Mr X’s round. The Council said it had taken steps to identify changes that needed to be made and it would continue to monitor crews. The Council said on-site checks of crews in areas that have experienced problems would also take place.
14. In its stage two response in December 2019, the Council apologised again for the frustration Mr X had experienced and for any inconvenience caused. The Council said the monitoring of the crews collecting Mr X’s bins showed an improvement in performance. It said there were no recent missed bins reports from Mr X and so considered the issues with his collections resolved.
15. The Council sent its stage two response to Mr X’s second complaint in January 2020. It explained that, due to a backlog of complaints, Mr X was sent a template response based on the issues he had raised in his complaint. This said the Council would be monitoring Mr X’s waste collection rounds closely over the coming weeks. It said a memo had been sent to the relevant crew telling them about the issues raised by Mr X and to make sure future collections are carried out.
16. Mr X said he started experiencing problems with his waste and recycling collection service in September 2019. He began raising missed bin reports in October and November of the same year. He said the Council has failed to collect the waste consistently when collections were missed. This meant Mr X had to take his waste to other sites to dispose of it.
17. Mr X said he has experienced difficulty reporting missed collections by telephone. He said when he has previously tried reporting missed bins to the Council, he was advised to contact the Council’s waste service providers as the Council did not handle this.
18. I have reviewed the records of missed bin reports and monitoring sheets from the Council. These show the first missed bins report was made in October 2019. Between October 2019 and March 2020, eight missed bins were reported. In one of these cases, the crew were instructed to return and collect. In two other cases, the bins were not collected as the bin was not put out for collection.
19. Monitoring sheets between March and August 2020 show there were cases where bins were not collected because the wrong bin or no bin was put out, or the bin was contaminated with incorrect items (for example, cardboard in a recycling bin for plastics, glass and cans only). Where the wrong bin or no bin had been presented, the monitoring sheets show the crew tried to speak with Mr X. The last missed bin during this period was reported in March 2020. A monitoring sheet from August 2020 shows Mr X told the crew member there had been no issues with his collections recently.
20. The Council provided the Ombudsman with further information on its complaints handling procedure with its service provider. It said the service provider takes all calls relating to service requests and complaints. All calls are logged in the Council’s case management system so the Council is able to see the issues being raised by members of the public. It acknowledged call waiting times were longer than its usual standards for a number of months following the changes to its services.

Analysis

21. Mr X says the Council has repeatedly failed to collect his household waste and recycling on the scheduled day, or promptly when collections are missed.
22. The evidence shows Mr X experienced service disruptions as a result of the changes to the Council’s waste services in October 2019. This is fault, which the Council has accepted. Eight missed bins were reported by Mr X between October 2019 and March 2020. For one of the missed bin collections, the crew were instructed to return and collect. For two other cases, the bin was not put out for collection. It is unclear from the evidence provided whether or when the five other missed bins were collected.
23. The Council was asked to provide evidence of the monitoring of Mr X’s route that it said would take place in the weeks following its second stage two response in January 2020. Monitoring took place once in February and again in March. Mr X reported one missed bin the week after the monitoring in March, but no further missed bins were reported thereafter. I note the Council has also apologised to Mr X for the collections that were missed and inconvenience caused.
24. Although the stage two response suggests the Council would monitor each collection over a period of weeks, I am satisfied the monitoring that took place after this was sufficient and remedied any injustice. The Council continued to monitor Mr X’s route between June and August 2020. The monitoring sheets show there were, on occasion, collection issues that were outside of the control of the Council. For example, when bins were not presented or when the bins were contaminated with incorrect items. The Council said each property is provided with an annual collection calendar explaining what items should be placed in each bin. This information is also available on the Council’s website. I do not find fault in the Council’s actions during this period.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault in the way the Council handled Mr X’s initial reports of missed bins collections. However, the Council has taken action to address the issues and Mr X has no significant unremedied injustice for which we would recommend any further remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman