Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council is emptying his bin. He says the refuse collects are leaving rubbish behind and not closing his bid lid. We find fault with the Council. We have made recommendations.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way this bin is being emptied. He says the way the refuse collectors are emptying his bin results in rubbish being left behind and his bin lid not being closed. Mr X says he now feels the refuse collectors have targeted his home as they are not emptying his bin and are leaving rubbish outside his bin.

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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. 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)
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. I spoke with Mr X and considered the information he provided.
6. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided.
7. I sent a draft decision to Mr X and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Repeat issues process

8. The Council has a procedure setting out how it will deal with repeat issues. The policy sets out the Council will work on a red, amber, green system to allow officers to manage the incidents over time. The stages are as follows:
• Stage 1 red: Potential site visit with customer to understand the issue and agree resolution.
• Stage 2 red: For the next three collections, crew to call supervisor when job is completed and sign the issues resolution list when returning to the office. Checks on in cab to ensure consistency.
• Amber: For the next three collections, crew to use in-cab (internal system) to report the collection has been completed. The Council’s waste officers will check this. If there is another failure, the process will go back to red stage 1.
• Green: For the next six weeks, no specific actions to take. However, if there are issues repeated during this time period, the process will go back to red stage 1.

What happened

9. In November 2019, Mr X made a complaint to the Council about his bin collection. Mr X told the Council the waste collectors were leaving his bin lid open after collecting his rubbish.
10. The Council responded to his complaint at the end of November 2019. The Council said it agreed the waste collectors should be closing his bin lid. The Council said it had contacted its waste contractors to ensure the collection crew were reinstructed on how to collect bins.
11. In November 2019, the collection crew completed a sheet which confirmed it had collected Mr X’s bin and left the lid closed.
12. In June 2020, Mr X made another complaint to the Council as the waste collectors had left his bin lid open again. The Council responded and said it accepted there had been repeated failure by the collection crew to close his bin lid. The Council said it had raised the matter with the supervisor for the area who would tell the crew members of their duties to ensure bin lids are closed following collection.
13. In July 2020, Mr X told the Council the waste collectors had left his bin lid open again. The Council emailed its waste contractor to note there had been a failure to close Mr X’s bin lid. The Council also asked its waste contractor to place Mr X’s address on the repeat issues list.
14. The collect crew completed a sheet which confirmed it had collected Mr X’s bin and left the lid closed in July 2020.
15. In August 2020, Mr X told the Council he continued to have issues with his bin collection. The collection crew completed a monitoring sheet for its collections in August 2020 confirming it had not left Mr X’s bin lid open.
16. In September and October 2020, Mr X contacted the Council to report that the waste collectors had left his bin open again. Mr X also reported some rubbish had been left behind by the collection crew.
17. In October 2020, the Council confirmed Mr X’s address was still on the repeat issue list and that it would restart its monitoring process due to the continued issues. The Council emailed its waste contractor asking for it to restart the monitoring procedure for repeat issues.
18. There was a training/briefing document dated August 2021. This document was to reflect that a briefing had been given to the collection crew for them to fully empty Mr X’s bins and to close the lid after collection. In response to our enquiries, the waste contractor said it had held the briefing in August 2020.

Analysis

19. Mr X first reported issues with his bin collection in November 2019. However, he did not raise further issues until June 2020. This suggests there were no issues with his bin collection between November 2019 and June 2020.
20. The evidence then shows Mr X repeatedly reported issues with his bin collection between June 2020 and October 2020. We recognise the Council responded quickly to Mr X’s reports and that it accepted there had been service failure with his bin collections.
21. There is also evidence the Council had consistently contacted its waste contractor to raise issues with the way it was collecting Mr X’s bins. The Council also appropriately placed Mr X’s address on the repeat issues list, in line with its policy.
22. There is some evidence the Council’s waste contractor had appropriately kept some monitoring records to show it was collecting Mr X’s bin correctly. However, it does not appear it kept all records.
23. The Council’s policy on repeat issues state during stage 2 of red, the collection crew should call the supervisor and sign the issues resolution list when returning to the office. The Council has not provided any evidence the collection crew completed this.
24. Further, during the amber stage, the collection crew should use its internal systems to report it had completed the collection. The Council’s officers will check this to ensure this is completed. Again, there is no evidence the collection crew completed this or that the Council checked to make sure the collection crew completed this action.
25. Due to the repeated issues, the repeat issue procedure should have gone back to stage 1 red. However, there is no evidence of any monitoring of Mr X’s collections after September 2020.
26. Further, there appears to be a discrepancy with the waste contractor’s paperwork. This is because it has provided evidence of a briefing on Mr X’s address, but the briefing document is dated August 2021. In response to our enquiries, the waste contractor said this briefing took place in August 2020.
27. It is unlikely, on balance, that if the waste contractor had completed the paperwork at the time, it would have recorded the date as 2021. Therefore, it is more likely than not, the waste contractor completed the paperwork after the briefing had taken place. This suggests the Council’s waste contractor is not keeping accurate records of its actions.
28. Therefore, the Council appears to have poor oversight of the repeated issues process as it is not checking whether the waste contractor is following the process. This lack of oversight by the Council means the process was ineffective at ensuring the issues Mr X reported did not happen again. This is fault.
29. I consider the fault identified caused Mr X an injustice as he continued to receive poor service from the Council’s waste contractors. This caused him an inconvenience.

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Agreed action

30. To remedy the injustice caused by the fault identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following:
• Apologise to Mr X for the injustice caused by the fault identified.
31. The Council should complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.
• Place Mr X’s address onto the repeat issue list. The Council should monitor the waste contractor’s actions to ensure it is following the repeat issue procedure. This includes ensuring all relevant records are made and kept. If the Council identifies that its waste contractor is not following the procedure, it should take action to address this with its contractor.
32. The Council will provide us with evidence of its monitoring of the repeat issues process within two months of the final decision.

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Final decision

33. I find fault with the Council for not maintaining effective oversight of its repeat issues process. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman