Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s waste collection service. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council’s waste collection service does not cater for everyone’s needs on an equal basis and that it has not taken action to address faults in its service. He says this has led to an increase in vermin in his area and the Council has not acted on suggestions he has made about how to improve the service.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and gave him the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. In 2018, after a public consultation exercise, the Council changed its waste collection service. It distributed food caddies for food waste to be collected weekly, with black bin bags to be used for non-food waste to be collected every two weeks.
6. Concerned that residents who did not have, or were not using, food caddies were leaving food waste in black bin bags for two weeks and possibly attracting vermin, Mr X complained to the Council.
7. The Council responded to Mr X and explained why it had changed its service and that those without a caddy could contact it for one. However, it said that recycling was a matter of choice for residents and that it could not compel them to use the weekly waste food collection service. In response to Mr X’s suggestions about changes he thought would improve its service, the Council explained it provides the same waste service to everyone in its area and that it would not be reintroducing its previous less efficient service for individual households.

Assessment

8. It is the role of the Council to decide what waste collection service to provide for its residents and the merits of its decision are not open to review by the Ombudsman. That Mr X believes a different system is preferable is not evidence of fault by the Council.
9. The system changed in 2018 and if there are people who did not receive a caddy at that time, it is open to them to contact the Council for one now. I see no evidence of fault by the Council or grounds on which to base a formal investigation.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman