Summary: Miss X complained the Council took six months to make a bulky waste collection she had requested. She also complained that although she should receive an assisted waste collection service, the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her waste and when it does, the crews do not return her bin when it is empty. The Council’s delay in collecting Miss X’s bulky waste items, and the failings in the assisted collection service it provides to Miss X amount to fault. These faults have caused Miss X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X complains the Council took six months to make a bulky waste collection she had requested. She states the items were left in her garden throughout this time which led to problems with her neighbours and landlord.
2. Miss X also complains that although she should receive an assisted waste collection service, the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her waste and when it does, the crews do not return her bin when it is empty.

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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. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Miss X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Miss X;
• Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

6. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
7. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
8. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
9. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.

Bulky waste collections

10. The Council will collect bulky waste such as mattresses, sofas and white goods including fridges, freezers and washing machines. It charges a fee for this service and will take up to ten items for each collection booked.

The Council asks residents to put all the items for collection at the front of their property, and to make sure all the items can be easily seen by the collection team.

What happened here

11. Miss X contacted the Council to arrange an assisted bulky waste collection. This was booked for 10 May 2019. The Council’s records state Miss X called the Council on 10 May 2019 as she had received a text message the night before asking her to put the waste to be collected at the front of her property. She confirmed some, but not all the items were at the front of her property. The crew reported the items were not out when they visited at 6.45am.
12. Miss X contacted the Council again on 14 May 2019 to re-arrange the collection. She told the Council she did not realise when she booked the collection that the crew would not collect from the rear of her property. Miss X had now moved all the items to the front of her property.
13. As the Council had not collected the items, on 31 May 2019 Miss X made a formal complaint. The Council did not respond to her complaint at this stage but collected the mattresses from the front of her property on 10 June 2019. It did not collect the pallets as it states the crew considered they were too heavy.
14. Miss X made a second complaint in July 2019 as the Council had still not collected the pallets. Again, the Council did not respond to this complaint at this stage. It responded to Miss X’s first complaint in August 2019 and apologised for the delay in replying, and in removing the bulky waste. The Council stated the crew was not aware Miss X would require an assisted collection. The response did not say when the Council would collect the pallets from Miss X’s property.
15. Miss X contacted the Council again in October 2019 as the pallets had still not been collected. The Council responded to Miss X’s second complaint on 21 November 2019. It apologised for the delay and confirmed the crew would collect the pallets that day. The Council reminded Miss X the items needed to be at the front of her property as the crews would not enter the rear of the property.
16. In addition to complaining about the bulky wate collection, Miss X also complained in July 2019 that the crews did not return her bins after collection. She was unhappy the crews left the bins on her drive or in front of her neighbours’ properties, where she could not retrieve them. The Council responded in November 2019 and confirmed it had escalated the matter to the service manager who would ensure the collections were carried out and Miss X’s bins returned.
17. Miss X reported ongoing problems in February 2020 and made a further complaint in September 2020. In response the Council stated it had again escalated the matter to the service manager who would ensure Miss X’s bins were returned.
18. As this did not resolve the problem, in December 2020 Miss X asked the Council to review her complaint. The Council confirmed it had reminded both crews again and had set up a period of monitoring for the next three months.
19. Miss X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint as she states that although the monitoring is ongoing, the Council still does not routinely return her bins. She is also unhappy with the length of time taken to collect the bulky waste from her property. The delay in collecting Miss X’s pallets caused her difficulty with her neighbours and her landlord who demanded they were removed.
20. In response to my enquiries the Council states that even where people receive assisted collections, bulky waste items should still be left at the front of their property. Miss X left her items in the rear garden, and the crew would not normally go to the rear of a property to pick up items. Miss X moved the items to the front of the property and the Council has collected them.
21. The Council’s records show Miss X reported two missed collections in 2020, both of which were closed on or around the next scheduled collection. The Council does not have a similar facility to raise service requests regarding bins not being returned. This can only be done by raising formal complaints. The Council states there is no evidence to suggest a repeat failure to collect and return Miss X’s bins. It states the monitoring has gone well and it will contact Miss X at the halfway point to obtain her feedback.

Analysis

22. The Council’s records show it attempted to collect Miss X’s bulky waste on 10 May 2019 but could not find it as it was not at the front of her property. The Council’s bulky waste collection service makes it clear that items should be presented at the front of a property and should be clearly identifiable. The Council’s records suggested it also reminded Miss X of this the day before the scheduled collection.
23. While we would not criticise the Council for not collecting the bulky waste on 10 May 2019, I consider the subsequent delay in collecting the items amounts to fault. Mrs X notified the Council the items were at the front of her property on 14 May 2019 and asked the Council to collect them. Given the initial collection was arranged for three days after Miss X made the request on 7 May 2019, I would have expected the re-arranged collection to also take place promptly.
24. However, the Council did not visit Miss X’s property to collect the items until 10 June 2019, following Miss X’s complaint, and then only took some of the items. It is unclear why the Council considered the pallets too heavy in June 2019 but was prepared to collect them in November 2019. There is no suggestion Miss X had broken the pallets down or in some way reduced their weight between June and November 2019. There is also no evidence the Council told Miss X why it had taken the mattresses but not the pallets in June 2019.
25. I also consider the failings in the Council’s assisted collection service to be fault. It is unclear exactly how many times the crews failed to return Miss X’s bins, or for how long this had been a problem as there is no system for reporting this issue. The Council has confirmed Miss X is registered for assisted collections, and this should be recorded on mobile technology within the collection vehicles and in the crew packs. The collection crews must be aware of Miss X’s assisted collection status as they collect her bins from the front of her property. It is therefore unclear why they repeatedly leave Miss X’s bins on the street rather than returning them to her property when they are empty.
26. The Council states there is no evidence of a repeat failure to collect and return Miss X’s bins. But its responses to her complaints apologise that her bins are not returned, rather than dispute there is a problem. The Council issued reminders to the crews and also arranged to monitor Mrs X’s collections for several months. This suggests it accepted there had been failings in the service.
27. In addition, I consider there to be fault in the way the Council has responded to Miss X’s complaints. The Council’s complaints procedure states it will respond to complaints within 15 working days. The Council failed to meet this timeframe in three of Miss X’s four complaints, with delays of several months before it responded. Such significant delays are clearly not acceptable and will have hindered the resolution of Miss X’s concerns.
28. Having identified fault, I must consider whether this has caused Miss X a significant injustice. Miss X has to struggle to move her bin or rely on other people to return her bin after collection. She has also experienced difficulties with her neighbours and landlords in relation to the bulky waste left at the front of her property for several months. Miss X has experienced frustration and disappointment that despite her complaints and reporting of problems the pallets were not collected for several months and her bins are still not returned. Mrs X has also been put to time and trouble in pursuing this matter.

Agreed action

29. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the delay in collecting her bulky waste and the repeated failure to return her bins to her property as part of the assisted collection service has caused.
30. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

31. The Council’s delay in collecting Miss X’s bulky waste items, and the failings in the assisted collection service it provides to Miss X amount to fault. These faults have caused Miss X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman