Summary: Mrs C complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her general waste and recycling on the scheduled days or respond to her reports of missed collections in a timely way. Mrs C says her bins overflow and the area is unsightly and unhygienic and she has incurred additional cleaning costs and stress as well as spending unnecessary time and trouble in reporting the issues. The Ombudsman has found fault by the Council but considers the agreed actions of an apology, small payment and period of evidenced monitoring are enough to provide a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs C complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her general waste and recycling on the scheduled days or respond to her reports of missed collections in a timely way.
2. Mrs C says because of the Council’s fault, her bins overflow and the area is unsightly and unhygienic. Mrs C also says she is paying for a service she is not receiving and she has incurred additional cleaning costs and stress as well as spending unnecessary time and trouble in reporting the issues.

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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. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
5. 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

6. I read the papers provided by Mrs C and discussed the complaint with her. I have considered some information from the Council and provided a copy of this to Mrs C. I have explained my draft decision to Mrs C and the Council and considered the comments received before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

7. Section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 says councils have a duty to collect household waste.
8. The Council says it provides a weekly collection of domestic waste and recycling to houses via a wheeled bin or recycling sacks. From flats the service is provided via a communal bin. The Council had an agreement with a contractor to manage this service.
9. Mrs C complained to the Council towards the end of September 2019 about the ongoing issues with her waste collection. Mrs C enclosed a copy of the emails she had sent reporting issues and 13 missed collections from March. The Council apologised in October for the missed collections and stated it was working with its contractor to resolve the issues which would include monitoring of the collections over the next few weeks to ensure collections were made on schedule.
10. Mrs C was unhappy with the Council’s response and escalated her complaint in November. The Council responded towards the end of November and accepted there were missed collections but that most of these were collected the next day or shortly afterwards. The Council repeated its apology and explained it did not consider compensation appropriate. The Council also confirmed it had decided not to renew the contract with its contractor from April 2020 and would be delivering the service directly from that date.
11. Mrs C says the missed collections were not always collected the next day and there were occasions when this took a week or longer. The Council has provided details of the reports of missed collections.
12. The Council has confirmed to the Ombudsman that it has invested in a new fleet of waste collection vehicles with in-cab technology including live collection and routing systems, live telematic tracking and 360 degree CCTV coverage. The Council says this technology allows for greater control and performance monitoring of crews during their scheduled rounds. The Council says since the service came in-house there was only one recycling missed collection reported which was rectified quickly. The Council is confident the above actions will lead to a continuing improvement in its service.
13. I am satisfied the Council is at fault. It has a duty to collect Mrs C’s waste and offers a weekly collection service. The Council has not satisfactorily delivered this service.
14. The Ombudsman will generally consider the injustice that may be caused by an occasional missed collection is unlikely to warrant a remedy beyond the waste being collected. However, we may consider a further remedy is required where there are repeated missed collections over a period of time. Based on the information provided, I am satisfied that Mrs C has reported missed collections over such a period. Whilst, the Ombudsman welcomes the Council’s actions above, I consider a further remedy is required in the circumstances of this complaint.

Agreed action

15. The Council has agreed it will take the following actions:
1. apologise to Mrs C for the continued inconvenience she has suffered by the Council’s failure to address the issues with her waste collections within one month of my decision;
2. pay Mrs C £100 to acknowledge her time, trouble and upset in pursuing her complaint within one month of my decision; and
3. monitor all the waste collections at Mrs C’s address for two months following my decision and keep an accurate record detailing when collections were made, any problems found and the action taken to resolve them including dated timed photographic evidence of any issues that may arise.

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Final decision

16. I have completed my investigation as I have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed actions above are enough to provide a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman