Summary: Mrs B complains the Council missed waste collections during 2020. The Ombudsman has found evidence of fault. He has upheld the complaint and completed the investigation because the Council agreed to the recommended actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Mrs B) says the Council has missed the majority of its recycled waste collections from her home and failed to keep in touch with her.
2. Mrs B refers to problems dating back 15 years along with a personal injury issue and problems with FOI matters.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the refuse collections for Mrs B from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020. I explain below why I am not investigating the other parts of her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
5. 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)
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
8. 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)
9. 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

10. I have considered the information provided by Mrs B. I asked the Council questions and carefully assessed the evidence it provided.
11. I shared my draft decision with both parties.

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What I found

What happened

12. Mrs B reported missed collections in November and December 2019 including calling the Council on 19 December reporting a missed recycling collection. On 17 February 2020 Mrs B sent a 21-page complaint to the Council. She said issues with waste collections being missed had lasted 15 years. The box used for paper recycling meant that waste would blow out and had caused personal injuries. Mrs B wanted a Council Tax refund. On 27 February the Council replied. The Operations Team Manager said he had visited the site in January. He explained why crews had limited access to the site and that general waste needed to be left at the rear of the house but paper recycling at the front because of vehicle access. The Council would deliver Mrs B a bin to replace the box. The Council also explained how to report missed collections. It would monitor collections and had spoken to the refuse crew. The Council confirmed it could not provide a Council Tax refund. The Council says it monitored the following four collections. There were no issues, and I can see Mrs B did not report any problems.
13. On 11 March Mrs B requested the Council reconsider her complaint. The Council replied five days later. It explained how complaints were handled. It also reiterated there had been access issues and listed missed collections. The Council offered to meet Mrs B to discuss why she was unhappy with the bin she had been given for paper waste. In June Mrs B emailed the Council she was not satisfied with its reply. She then lodged a new complaint about further missed collections. The Council replied on 21 July. It apologised for the missed collections and would carry out further monitoring. It offered again to meet Mrs B and discuss her concerns. In July Mrs B again reported at least six missed collections, covering several months, to the Council. She used the complaints system because she said the usual reporting process was not working. The Council says that further monitoring resulted in it changing the waste collection route to allow better access to the site.
14. In November Mrs B contacted the Council about more missed collections. The Council carried out further monitoring.
15. The Council’s records show a total of 10 missed collections from December 2019 to the end of 2020. Seven of those were paper waste and three were general waste. Mrs B’s records show there were, in fact, a total of 20 missed collections.
16. I understand from Mrs B that recent collections have taken place without incident. However, she has raised questions about the collection of a different (grey) bin.

What should have happened?

17. The Council provides alternate weekly collections for waste (general waste and recyclables). A resident can report a missed collection by phone, email or online form. When the Council receives a missed collection report it will “where possible” check with the collection crew and vehicle tracking to see if there was an error. Missed collections are then picked up when the crew is next in the area. If the Council finds there is a recurring issue it can monitor collections for a set period.
18. The Council had used boxes to collect papers waste. However, these are being phased out and residents can ask for a bin instead.
19. Initial formal complaints to the Council are considered by the service area. If the complaint is escalated, it is then responded to by a Senior Officer.

Was there fault by the Council?

20. Mrs B says the Council has missed the majority of collections in 2020. I am satisfied there is evidence to show there were 20 missed collections. The Council says there were also issues with Mrs B not placing the paper waste in the right collection spot. However, its records do not show this as a reason for any collections being missed. As such I am satisfied the evidence supports 20 missed collections over a 12-month period due to fault by the Council. That is not acceptable. In addition, the Council’s record keeping for those missed collections was not sufficient. I do note that Mrs B has not made further reports of missed collections in 2021 (up to the end of February) and has confirmed the service has improved.
21. The Council did follow procedures once it was aware of Mrs B’s concerns. It carried out three sets of monitoring. The first period found no missed collections. The second monitoring resulted in the Council altering its route and this appears to have aided collections. No major issues were found in the final period. I am satisfied the Council followed its procedures overall but it needs to improve how it documents this activity.
22. Mrs B disagrees with how the Council handled her complaint. I see no evidence of fault. The Council has already, correctly, explained to Mrs B that an initial complaint is considered by the service area. Mrs B may disagree with the process but that is not administrative fault. The Ombudsman will not question the merits of decisions taken by the Council in the absence of fault.

Did the fault cause an injustice?

23. Mrs B has had 20 missed collections which meant she did not receive a reasonable level of service.

Agreed action

24. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and will:
• pay Mrs B £200 for the loss of service resulting from the missed collections;
• send Mrs B a letter of apology which also addresses her query about the grey bins;
• review how missed collections and missed collection monitoring are documented.
25. The Council will carry out these actions within four weeks of this investigation being completed.

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Final decision

26. I have upheld the complaint and completed the investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

27. I am unable to consider waste collections over a 15 year period. The Ombudsman expects a complaint to be made to him within 12 months of the problem arising.
28. Complaints about FOI issues are not for the Ombudsman, as set out above.
29. The Ombudsman cannot consider complaints about personal injuries and negligence. That is a matter for the Council’s insurers and ultimately the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman