Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to collect the bins from her house on numerous occasions within the first few months of 2020. Miss X also complained about the way in which the Council has handled her complaint. The Council was at fault for not collecting Miss X’s bins and delays in arranging catch-up collection. The Council has resolved the bin collection issue in April 2020. The Council has agreed to provide Miss X with an apology and £100 to recognise the distress, time and trouble caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to collect the bins from her house on numerous occasions within the first few months of 2020.
2. Miss X has also complained about the way in which the Council has handled her complaint.
3. Miss X says this caused her inconvenience and financial loss through having to spend time in her working day following this matter up with the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this report, we 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. We 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)
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 have considered all the information Miss X provided. I have also asked the Council questions and requested information, and in turn have considered the Council’s response. Miss X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. The Council has a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste free of charge.
8. The Council offers a fortnightly collection of normal household waste (non-recyclables) and a fortnightly recyclables collection. The Council collects each type of waste on alternate weeks.
9. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Council will ask the crew to return within the week, or as soon as possible, to complete the collection.

Background

10. Miss X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect the recyclable and non- recyclable waste from her street on the scheduled days. She said there were often weeks between collections which led to a large build-up of waste.
11. According to the Council’s records, it missed eleven consecutive collections from January 2020 to April 2020. Miss X reported each of these missed collections with the Council.
12. In addition to reporting missed collections, Miss X also made a formal complaint to the Council in January 2020. Miss X made sustained contact with the Council in pursuing her complaint.
13. The Council proceeded straight to stage 3 of its complaints process and responded to Miss X’s complaint on 26 February 2020. It said:
• The refuse vehicle was not able to access Miss X’s street because of parked cars.
• The operational service manager had visited the site, arranged a smaller vehicle to complete a one-off collection and would be sending a letter to residents to ask that cars are parked more considerately on collection days.
• The Council was continuing to try and resolve the bin collection issue on Miss X’s street.
14. On the same date, the Council sent a letter to residents of the street which requested they were considerate about parking to allow the refuse vehicle to access the street on collection days. This letter did not improve the Council’s success in completing bins collections.
15. Miss X complained further to the Council. The Council promised a response in the week of 2 March 2020. This did not happen.
16. Miss X complained to the Council again on 11 March 2020. In response the Council offered a meeting with Miss X to discuss her complaint. Miss X declined the meeting and complained to the Ombudsman.
17. Following further reports of missed collections, the Council arranged for a smaller refuse vehicle to complete the collections on Miss X’s street from 6 April 2020. The Council said it has received no further reports of missed collections on Miss X’s street since this date.

Analysis

18. It is clear from the Council’s records that it repeatedly failed to collect Miss X’s recyclable and non-recyclable waste. These failings in the service amount to fault.
19. The Council said it successfully caught up with collections within the week; on most occasions when a resident reported a missed collection. However, on average it took the Council two missed scheduled collections before it caught up collections on Miss X’s street. This suggests the Council did not catch up on collections in a timely manner.
20. I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has dealt with Miss X’s complaints. The Council failed to advise Miss X in advance of its stage 3 response why it had not responded to Miss X’s complaint at stage 1 or stage 2. I do not find fault with the Council in completing a quick investigation, but the lack of information provided to Miss X about why it had moved straight to stage 3 is fault. The Council also failed to meet promised deadlines and there were inconsistencies in information provided to Miss X.
21. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Miss X an injustice.
22. Miss X has demonstrated the build-up of waste on her street which created an undesirable living environment for just less than three months. Miss X also experienced frustrations and disappointment through both the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Miss X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
23. To remedy the situation, the Council wrote to residents within five weeks to ask that they not park to prevent the refuse vehicle gaining access to the street. While this was unsuccessful in resolving the problem, this was not through the fault of the Council. Within eleven weeks of the first reported missed collection, the Council put in place a permanent solution through use of a smaller refuse vehicle.
24. While the Council resolved the main issue and prevented any further injustice, I consider the Council should provide Miss X an apology and £100 to reflect the unnecessary distress, time and trouble caused.

Agreed action

25. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision, the Council has agreed to:
• Apologise and make a payment of £100 to Miss X for her avoidable time, trouble and distress experienced.

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Final decision

26. There was fault by the Council. As the Council has agreed to my recommendation I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman