Summary: Mrs X complains that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council has routinely failed to collect her recycling when collecting her neighbours’ recycling. The failings in the assisted collection service the Council provided to Mrs X amount to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complains that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council has routinely failed to collect her recycling when collecting her neighbours’ recycling. Mrs X states that when the Council does collect her recycling it does not return her bin to the correct position.
2. Mrs X complains that despite repeatedly reporting the missed collections and making a complaint, the problem continued.

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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. 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

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Mrs X;
• Mrs 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

6. 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.
7. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
8. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
9. 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

10. Mrs X complains there have been problems with her assisted collection service since it began in 2019. She states the Council initially missed both her household waste and recycling collections. The household waste service then improved, but she continued to have problems with the recycling collections.
11. Mrs X states she routinely reported the missed collections and was told it would be collected, but often had to wait until the next scheduled collection day. She is unhappy the Council has not been able to provide an explanation for the missed collections.
12. The Council’s records show Mrs X reported four missed recycling collections, one in June and three in July 2020. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the Council made the collections in a timely manner. The records also suggest the Council also missed other collections.
13. For example, Mrs X reported missed collections on 16 and 30 July 2020 which the Council closed on 17 and 20 August 2020, respectively. It is unclear why the Council did not close both reports on the same day. It also suggests the Council also missed the collection scheduled for 13 August 2020. If the Council had made this collection it could have closed both reports that day.
14. The Council states there may be a delay between when it goes out to collect a missed collection and when it closes the report, so it is not necessarily the case that it also missed the intervening collections. However, the Council has not provided evidence of the dates it made the missed collections where they are different to the date the report was closed.
15. Mrs X disputes the accuracy of the Council’s records and has provided details of other missed collections she reported in May, June, and December 2020. Mrs X also made a formal complaint about the missed collections in late July 2020. She complained the Council had missed her recycling collections for the last six weeks. She questioned why the Council had collected her neighbours’ recycling that morning but had again missed hers and whether this was a form of disability discrimination. Mrs X asked for an explanation for the missed collections and for her bins to be emptied.
16. The Council apologised for the missed collections and confirmed a manager would speak to the crew and arrange a collection as soon as possible. It also confirmed it would issue reminder to the crew on collection day so that even if the crew changed, they would be aware of Mrs X’s assisted collection.
17. Mrs X was not satisfied by the Council’s response as her recycling had still not been collected, and the Council had not explained why her collections were being missed. She asked the Council not to close her complaint until it had collected her recycling. The Council confirmed it was unclear why the recycling crew missed Mrs X's property. Her property was on the list for assisted collections and it had reminded the crew. The Council arranged to monitor Mrs X’s collections for the following three months to ensure the crews collected her bin from the doorstep and returned it after emptying.
18. In response to my enquiries the Council states that from mid-June to late July the depot experienced operational difficulties as a number of crew members had to self-isolate due to COVID-19. This included the recycling crew who cover Mrs X’s road, which meant the service was disrupted with relief crews covering the route. The Council states the relief crew may not have checked the assisted collection list as thoroughly as it should have.
19. The Council states its monitoring records from August to November 2020 show the collections were 100% successful. This suggests Mrs X’s assisted collections have stabilised.

Analysis

20. It is clear from the documentation available that there have been repeated failings in the Council’s assisted collection service. These failings in service amount to fault.
21. The Council states Mrs X reported four consecutive missed collections in June and July 2020. But Mrs X has provided details of other missed collections and the Council’s records suggest it missed at least one other collection. I do not consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections. I consider it likely that the Council missed more than four of Mrs X’s assisted recycling collections.
22. The Council states the missed collections are likely to be due to relief crews covering Mrs X’s route. However, the Council advised Mrs X that it would issue reminders on collection day so that if the crew changed they would still be aware of Mrs X’s assisted collection. In the circumstances, I would have expected all crews covering Mrs X’s route to have been aware of and completed her assisted collections.
23. I note the Council monitored Mrs X’s collections, which has led to an improvement in service. Mrs X states the service is still not perfect but is much better than it was.
24. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. Mrs X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected recycling left at her property for several weeks following consecutive missed collections. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mrs X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

25. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste and recycling collections has caused.
26. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

27. The failings in the assisted collection service the Council provided to Mrs X amount to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman