Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to start charging for garden waste collections. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council and the decision to start charging will affect all or most of the people living in the area.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained about the Council’s decision to start charging for garden waste collections. He says the Council previously guaranteed residents it would not charge for the service.
2. Mr X is also unhappy with how the Council has dealt with his complaint. He says there have been delays and it has not addressed his concerns.

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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’. 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 would find fault.

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

4. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. Councils have a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling free of charge. Collecting garden waste is discretionary and if the Council decides to provide this service it can charge for it. Residents can choose if they want to pay for the service or make alternative arrangements for their garden waste.

What happened

7. In 2016, the Council entered into a contract with a new waste collection company. In 2020, the Council introduced an annual charge of £42 for garden waste collections.
8. Mr X has complained about the Council’s decision to start charging to collect garden waste. He argues that the Council previously said it would not charge for the service for the duration of the contract with the waste collection company.

Assessment

9. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to start charging for garden waste collections. This is because it is unlikely I would find fault by the Council and the decision to start charging will affect all or most of the people in the Council’s area.
10. Mr X and the Council disagree as to what was said in relation to charging for garden waste collections. Mr X says the Council told residents the service would be free for the duration of the contract with the waste management company. The Council disagrees and says there is no evidence to support Mr X’s claims.
11. I cannot know for certain what advice was given regarding the collections in 2018. However regardless of this, the Council is entitled to charge for the collection of garden waste, and it is not for the Ombudsman to decide what policies and services the Council should operate. Therefore, it is unlikely I could find fault by the Council in this regard.
12. Furthermore, the law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate a matter which affects all or most of the residents in a council’s area. As the decision to charge for garden waste collections affects most of the residents in the area, the complaint is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
13. Mr X has also complained about how the Council dealt with his complaint. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the main issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor issues such as complaint handling. Mr X’s main complaint is about the Council’s decision to charge for garden waste collections, not how the Council handled his complaint.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council and all or most of the residents in the area have been affected.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman