Summary: The Ombudsman upholds Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in completing our previous recommendations. The Council delayed paying the agreed remedy for nine months. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about further problems with her waste collections as she has not reported these to the Council. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Ms X, and review how it carries out future recommendations from the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to provide the agreed payment and apology following a previous investigation by the Ombudsman. She also says there is a recurring problem with the Council not returning her bins to the correct place which is causing her frustration and inconvenience.

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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’. 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)
3. When a council fails to provide an agreed remedy, the Ombudsman can open a new case to consider the failure. The new investigation can also consider any other substantive issues where appropriate.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the Council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
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 the complaint made by Ms X and the evidence she provided.
7. I considered the Council’s comments about the complaint and the documents it provided in response to my enquiries.
8. Ms 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

What happened

9. The Ombudsman previously upheld a complaint from Ms X about a repeated failure by the Council’s refuse contractor to return her bins to the correct location. I issued a final decision on that case in October 2019.
10. In response to that investigation, the Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £100 within one month, to recognise the inconvenience and frustration its faults had caused. It also agreed to monitor refuse collections on Ms X’s street for three months.
11. The Council sent an apology to Ms X in November 2019 and asked her to complete a form to allow them to make the payment. Ms X says she completed the form and provided her account details. However, despite reminders from the Ombudsman, the Council failed to provide evidence it paid.
12. The Council did provide evidence of its monitoring of the contractor. During the monitoring period there was one recorded incident of Ms X’s bin not being returned to the correct location. The Council addressed this with the contractor.
13. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it tried to arrange the payment in March 2020 but did not due to the COVID-19 pandemic and staff turnover. It eventually made the payment in August 2020. It has not explained the delay between October and March.
14. Ms X says the problem with her bins not being returned to the correct place has recurred. She provided undated photos to the Ombudsman which showed bins in the street and fly-tipping in the area. Ms X did not report these incidents to the Council.
15. Since April 2020, the Council no longer commissions a third-party provider to carry out refuse collections and now delivers the service itself. It says it has not had any reports from Ms X about issues with her bin since the previous monitoring period ended.

Analysis

16. The Council has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the delay in paying the agreed remedy in the Ombudsman’s previous investigation. This is fault. Ms X has had to make a further complaint to the Ombudsman to seek a resolution.
17. The Ombudsman cannot provide ongoing monitoring of Ms X’s refuse collections. Following the previous investigation, the Council provided evidence the issue had resolved during the monitoring period. Ms X should report any further concerns about refuse collections to the Council first. As the Council has not had an opportunity to look into the matter and reply, the Ombudsman will not investigate this part of the complaint.

Agreed action

18. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council will:
• apologise to Ms X for its delay in complying with the Ombudsman’s previous recommendations and pay a further £100 to recognise her time and trouble in pursuing a second complaint.
• review how it carries out agreed actions from investigations by the Ombudsman to ensure these are completed on time.

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Final decision

19. I uphold Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to follow the Ombudsman’s previous recommendations. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice this caused to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman