Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the Council’s failure to collect a bulky waste item. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything to the investigation the Council has already carried out.

The complaint

1. Ms B is unhappy the Council failed to collect a bulky waste item on the agreed date. Ms B says the Council breached its contract by collecting the item four days late. Ms B says the delay caused her inconvenience because she had to drag a large and heavy item to and from her property. Ms B says the Council misrepresented the facts when she complained.

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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 could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome,

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information from Ms B. I shared a draft version of this decision with Ms B and invited her comments.

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What I found

4. Ms B signed up to the Council’s bulky waste item collection service. She paid for the Council to collect five items on an agreed date.
5. The Council says Ms B’s request was incorrectly logged by its call centre. The Council says the additional item Ms B requested was not visible to the collection crew and so only four items were collected on the agreed date.
6. Ms B complained to the Council. The Council collected the fifth item four days later than agreed. In response to Ms B’s complaint, the Council apologised for the delay and for any inconvenience Ms B suffered.
7. Ms B is looking for the Council to admit it breached the terms of its contract and pay her £100 compensation for the delay. Ms B also says the Council attempted to mislead her in its response to her complaint.
8. While I understand Ms B is frustrated with the delay, it did not take place over a long time. Therefore, the apology the Council provided is a suitable remedy for the complaint, and the Ombudsman would be unlikely to achieve more than this if we investigated.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the way the Council has considered her complaints. Where the substantive matters do not themselves warrant investigation, the Ombudsman will not normally consider how the Council has responded to a complaint about them. That is the case here.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything to the investigation the Council has already carried out.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman