Summary: Mr X complains the Council repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste from several of Company Y’s housing schemes. This led to an accumulation of waste which Company Y incurred time and expense in disposing of. The small number of missed collections reported by residents in 2019 or 2020 does not amount to fault. Consequently, the Council would not be responsible for Company Y’s costs in disposing of the uncollected waste.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X complains on behalf of Company Y that the council repeatedly failed to collect the communal waste from several of Company Y’s housing schemes. This led to an accumulation of waste which Company Y incurred time and expense in disposing of.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated Mr X’s concerns about missed collections since 2019 but have not investigated problems with the collection service in 2018.

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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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the information provided by Mr X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• Mr 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

7. 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.
8. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
9. In September 2018 the Council introduced a new operating model. Under this model, scheduled collection days remained the same, but the collection rounds/routes changed.
10. At the end of December 2018 collection crews began industrial action. The Council introduced a contingency plan to make one collection for all waste types each week rather than separate collections of household waste and recycling. The crews began working to rule on 29 December 2018 and the first full day of industrial action was 19 February 2019.
11. The Council moved to a fortnightly collection for all waste types in February 2019. When the industrial action ended in mid-March 2019, the Council returned to weekly household and fortnightly recycling collections.
12. 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.

What happened here

13. Company Y owns several housing schemes. Mr X states Company Y received several complaints and requests for assistance from its residents in 2018 and 2019 following missed waste collections. Mr X states Company Y contacted local councillors and the Council to try and resolve the matter. As this did not resolve the situation Company Y arranged to remove and dispose of the uncollected waste itself.
14. Mr X states Company Y collected the waste four times in 2018 and five times in 2019 at a cost to the company of over £1000. Four of the five collections in 2019 were during the period of industrial action, and the fifth collection was shortly after the strikes ended.
15. Mr X states there are still problems with the communal waste collections from these housing schemes, and collections were hit and miss throughout 2019.
16. The Council’s records show residents reported three missed household waste collections and three missed recycling collections across the housing schemes in 2019. In 2020, residents across the housing schemes have reported eight missed household waste collections and one missed recycling collection. The housing schemes were not all affected in the same way by the missed collections. Residents in one location did not report any missed collections in 2019, while residents at other locations reported between one and three missed collections in 2019.
17. Company Y wrote to the Council in April 2019 stating its housing schemes had experienced ongoing difficulties in getting a consistent collection for many years, not just during the industrial action. Company Y was concerned the housing schemes were not included on a collection route. It asked the Council to ensure residents had their bins emptied every week. As Company Y had removed the accumulated waste several times it intended to send the Council an invoice for this work.
18. In July 2019 Company Y sent the Council an invoice for £1023 in respect of the cost of clearing the accumulated waste. It chased the Council and made a further complaint in January 2020 as it had still not received payment. The Council’s response accepted that the service in early 2019 was less than acceptable for many residents. The industrial action during this period had a catastrophic impact on the waste collection service across the city.
19. The Council noted that during the four-month period of industrial action, of the 60 properties in two of Company Y’s schemes, there were only 12 reports of missed collections. There were only 16 reports of missed collections from properties in these two locations in the whole of 2019. The Council acknowledged there may have been more households affected. It asked that residents report missed collections directly to the Council so that it was aware of the issues and could tackle the problem.
20. In relation to Company Y’s invoice, the Council advised it did not offer compensation, part refunds on council tax or reimbursement for services provided by third party contractors. Nor did it provide similar payments to landlords or private organisations. Company Y was not satisfied by the Council’s response and asked it to review the complaint. The Council’s further response reiterated it did not offer compensation in connection with any missed collections which occurred as a consequence of the industrial action. It acknowledged the missed collections were an inconvenience to the residents and again apologised for this.
21. Company Y has asked the Ombudsman to investigate its complaint. It states residents made numerous complaints to the company about the missed collections which resulted in staff time and resources being diverted from other areas of work. This was in addition to the £1023 it cost to remove the accumulated rubbish. Company Y would like the Council to reimburse the £1023 and to ensure it makes regular collections from its housing schemes.
22. In response to my enquiries the Council states the sites are all served by a communal container round which is manually routed by the depot. It routes all container rounds within Birmingham in this way. The Council states there have been no changes to the round, before 2019 or since.
23. The Council states the missed collections in early 2019 were caused solely by the industrial action. And that since the end of the industrial action there has been a relatively small number of missed collections. It attributes these missed collections to a combination of vehicle breakdowns and restricted access issues.
24. In addition, the Council has reiterated that it does not compensate in connection with any missed collections which occurred as a consequence of last year's industrial action. Company Y decided to pay a third party to clear accumulated waste without prior notification to the Council of their intended course of action.

Analysis

25. It is clear from the Council’s records that there have been missed collections from Company Y’s housing schemes. It is possible these records may not reflect the full extent of the missed collections as residents appear to have complained to Company Y, rather than reported them to the Council.
26. The Council states the depot can monitor reports of missed collections by analysing their dropped work spreadsheets to see if certain streets/addresses start to appear frequently. Its mobile technology (in cab device/mobile hand-held device) can also flag up repeat missed collections. But if the residents do not report missed collections to the Council, it may not be aware of the issue and cannot take action to resolve it.
27. I recognise the missed collections will have been both frustrating and inconvenient for residents and it would clearly be preferable if the Council made all the scheduled collections on time. But I do not consider the small number of missed collections reported in 2019 or 2020 is sufficient to amount to fault.
28. I also recognise that Company Y wanted to assist its residents. But I do not consider it follows that the Council should be responsible for the costs Company Y incurred in disposing of the uncollected waste. Company Y took the decision to clear the waste without notifying or consulting with or the Council, and only made a formal complaint to the Council after it had incurred these costs. I have not received any evidence to show Company Y contacted the Council about missed collections in 2019, prior to April 2019.

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Final decision

29. The small number of missed collections reported by residents in 2019 or 2020 does not amount to fault. Consequently, the Council would not be responsible for Company Y’s costs in disposing of the uncollected waste.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

30. I have not investigated Mr X’s concerns about problems with the waste collection service in 2018 as Mr X did not raised concerns about these missed collections within 12 months of them occurring. It was open to Mr X/ Company Y to raise his concerns with the Ombudsman sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman