Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to only empty one garden waste bin a week. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council will not empty both of her brown bins which are used for garden waste. She wants the Council to empty both bins as it did until August.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the Council’s policy and comments Mrs X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Council policy

4. The Council collects one brown bin every week. People can also present garden waste in two sacks. If they have two bins, although only one is emptied each week, the bins can be rotated and used for storage and put out on alternate weeks.

What happened

5. Mrs X has two brown bins. Until August the Council emptied both bins. In August the crew put a sticker on one bin explaining that only one bin would be emptied each week. Since then Mrs X has had one weekly bin collection. She has put bags out but says they have not been returned.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council. In response the Council explained that in 2013 it moved to a weekly, free, collection. But, to manage the increased capacity, it put limits on the number of bins the crews would empty each week. For Mrs X’s circumstances the limit is one bin and two bags. The Council said that, historically, some crews had continued to collect above these limits but the contractor had been reminded that the crews should not collect more waste than what was agreed in 2013. The Council said the crews try to return the sacks.
7. Mrs X says there should have been consultation in 2020 and that only collecting one bin amounts to a withdrawal of service. She says the use of sacks is not good for the environment and the policy may lead to fly tipping.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The policy, which has been in place since 2013, says people can have one bin collection a week. This means the Council’s decision that it will not resume emptying two bins is consistent with the policy and there is no reason to start an investigation. If Mrs X disagrees with the policy she would need to lobby her local councillors for a change in the policy. It is for the Council, not the Ombudsman, to set the terms of the garden waste policy. There was no reason to consult in 2020 because the policy has not changed. It is simply that in some areas the crews were emptying more bins than they should have done. This is not a withdrawal of service but enforcement of the policy. Mrs X has questioned the evidence behind the 2013 decision to limit the bins. However, it is too late to investigate a decision that was made in 2013.
9. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. Mrs X has, through no fault of her own, received an enhanced service for seven years. This enhanced service has stopped, in line with the policy, and Mrs X is now receiving the service she should have received since 2013. I appreciate it is frustrating when the bags are not returned but this does not represent enough injustice to warrant an investigation. In addition, most people will find that a weekly collection is sufficient so it is unlikely there would be a significant increase in the number of people going to the recycling centre as Mrs X has suggested or fly-tipping. Many councils only collect garden waste every two weeks, and charge for the service; even though Mrs X now has one weekly collection this is more than the service provided in many other council areas.

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Final decision

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman