Summary: Miss B complains of repeated failures by the Council to remove her household waste. She says the operatives do not always empty the wheeled bin completely and sometimes put other households’ waste in her bin before emptying. Sometimes she is left with waste in the bin and she considers the practice of putting other waste in her bin to be unhygienic. There was some fault in service provision which the Council responded to appropriately. Further investigation is not warranted.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains of repeated failures by the Council to remove her household waste. She says the operatives do not always empty the wheeled bin completely and sometimes put other household’s waste in her bin before emptying. Sometimes she is left with waste in the bin and she considers the practice of putting other waste in her bin to be unhygienic.

Back to top

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)

3. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Miss B and spoke to her. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Miss B and the Council and considered their comments.

Back to top

What I found

5. Miss B has reported problems with the way her waste bin was emptied for several years. She says that over 2019 practically on every single occasion her bin was not emptied properly. The operatives would remove some of the bagged waste from the bin but would leave waste at the bottom. She said the only time it would be emptied by taking it to the vehicle would be when they had put other households’ waste in it first.
6. In December 2019 the Council responded to Miss B’s complaint. The officer said they had viewed the CCTV footage from the vehicle and spoken to the crew. They said the correct procedures were not being followed. The had told the crew to follow the correct procedure. The officer apologised.
7. In February 2020 Miss B reported another incident of putting waste from a neighbouring household in her bin before taking it to the vehicle. The Council replied saying the CCTV footage had been viewed and there was no breach of procedures observed. Miss B has commented that at the time of the incident the waste vehicle was not in the road which would explain why it was not on the CCTV footage.
8. Miss B says there was a further incident in July of a neighbouring household’s waste being put in her bin. But matters have improved over the last six months.

Analysis

9. The Council accepted there had been a failure to follow proper procedures when it responded to Miss B in December 2019. Since then there have been four instances which Miss B has raised with the Council. But, overall, there is a general improvement. I do not, therefore, consider that further investigation by me is warranted at the moment. If problems do start to recur and Miss B is not satisfied in the way the Council responds she can make a further complaint to us.

Back to top

Final decision

10. There was some fault in service provision which the Council responded to appropriately. Further investigation is not warranted.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman