Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect all her household waste and recycling when collecting her neighbours. The failings in the assisted collection service the Council provides 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 the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste and recycling when collecting her neighbours. Although the Council should collect Mrs X’s waste and recycling from her front door as part of the assisted collection service, Mrs X has to carry her waste and recycling to the roadside for collection. She disputes the bags are too heavy for the crew to collect and questions how the crew could determine this when they do not attempt to move them.

Back to top

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. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. 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;
• Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

5. 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.
6. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
7. 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.
8. 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

9. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in 2019 about the Council’s failure to collect her refuse sacks. Following that complaint, the Council arranged to monitor Mrs X’s collections to identify and rectify any repeated failures to collect her refuse sacks.
10. Mrs X contacted the Ombudsman again in late 2020 to raise a further complaint as there were ongoing problems with her refuse sack collections. She complains that council officers have visited her property and suggested her refuse bags are too heavy for the crews to collect. Mrs X does not accept this and feels this is an excuse not to collect her refuse sacks. Mrs X is registered for assisted collections, and the Council should collect her waste and recycling from the front of her property. However, Mrs X carries her refuse sacks and recycling down the steps to the pavement for collection. She asserts that as she is able to carry the sacks to the pavement, they cannot be too heavy for the collection crews to move from the pavement to the truck.
11. According to the Council’s records, Mrs X has reported four missed sack collections and one recycling collection since June 2020. She reported two missed sack collection in December 2020 and two more in February 2021. In January 2021 Mrs X reported her recycling had not been collected for three weeks. The reports were all closed within a day or two, suggesting the missed collections were resolved promptly.
12. The Council wrote to Mrs X in December 2020. It noted the Council was aware of problems with Mrs X’s refuse collections because the bags were too heavy due to the content of cat litter. The Council asked Mrs X to distribute the cat litter evenly amongst her refuse bags and that they were double bagged. It also asked Mrs X to ensure she presented her waste correctly for the next collection day.
13. Mrs X was unhappy the Council had sought to blame her for the missed collections, rather than resolve the situation. She disputed the bags were too heavy and confirmed they were heavy duty bags, which were well sealed and portioned out. Mrs X also questioned how the Council would know the weight of the bags.
14. Mrs X made a further complaint about the service in February 2021. She complained the Council had again failed to collect any of her refuse bags, which were correctly packed and positioned at the bottom of her steps. Mrs X stated she had seen the collection crew stand next to the sacks, talking but they made no attempt to pick up the sacks. The Council apologised for the inconvenience and confirmed the service manager had instructed the crew to collect her waste. It noted the crew had now made a further collection and had taken the excess waste.
15. As there were further issues with Mrs X’s sack collections she asked the Council to review her complaint. The Council confirmed the service manager had spoken to the crew again. It asked Mrs X to ensure she continued to present her household waste correctly by not overfilling bags.
16. Mrs X reiterated that the sacks were presented correctly, and she had carried them to the bottom of her steps. She was unhappy the Council was again trying to blame her for the Council’s failure to collect the sacks. The Council’s further response confirmed the crews had agreed to take the sacks but asked Mrs X to be mindful of the weight and to distribute the weight evenly amongst several sacks.
17. Mrs X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. She is concerned that she is being singled out and the Council is making assumption about her waste. Mrs X would like to utilise the assisted collection service but is concerned that if she does not take the sacks down the steps to the pavement that they would not be collected at all. She is unhappy the Council has sent standard responses to her complaints and has not properly investigated the matter.
18. In response to my enquiries the Council states there is no evidence to suggest a repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s household sacks or recycling. It also states it is providing an assisted collection service as it collects Mrs X’s sacks and recycling box from her front door.
19. The Council states the issue of Mrs X overfilling her sacks with cat litter has been going on for quite a long time. The sacks are often found to be too heavy at the point of lifting them from the front door and carrying them up Mrs X’s steps to the vehicle. The Council states the sacks would also often split before being placed in the back of the vehicle, causing spillage.
20. It states an assistant service manager has made two or three ad hoc visits to Mrs X’s property over the last year or so, but there are no records of these visits, and no formal monitoring has been set up.
21. The Council believes the sack collections have settled down for at least the last three months. It suggests could be attributable to Mrs X now making her sacks more manageable than was previously the case by putting out more sacks with fewer contents.

Analysis

22. Mrs X and the Council have provided differing accounts of the collection service. The Council states it collects Mrs X’s refuse sacks and recycling box from her front door in line with the agreed assisted collection service. And it states it has often found the sacks to be too heavy and has experienced problems with the sacks splitting as it carried them up the steps.
23. However, Mrs X states she has to take her refuse sacks down her steps to the pavement for collection. She states she uses heavy duty bags which are properly sealed and not overfilled so she is able to carry them to the roadside for collection.
24. Our investigations are evidence based and we cannot accept one person’s word against another. Mrs X has provided photographs of her carrying the sacks down her steps and of the refuse sacks on the pavement at the bottom of her steps. Her complaints to the Council also repeatedly refer to her carrying the sacks down the steps to the pavement and then having to take them back up when they are not collected. The Council has not provided any evidence to contradict this.
25. The Council refers to the collection crew having difficulties carrying Mrs X’s sacks up the steps from her property when in fact the steps lead down from Mrs X’s property to the roadside. It is possible this is simply a typographical error on the Council’s part but equally could suggest the Council has not properly considered Mrs X’s complaint.
26. Based on the evidence available I consider it more likely than not that Mrs X carries her refuse sacks and recycling down her steps and presents them on the pavement for collection. Mrs X is registered for the assisted collection service due to a medical condition. If Mrs X is able to carry the sacks down the steps to the pavement, this then calls into question the Council’s assertion that her sacks are too heavy for the collection crew to move.
27. I also note that in response to Mrs X’s complaint in February 2021 the Council confirmed it had made a further collection and taken the excess waste. It is unclear why the Council considered the sacks too heavy at the scheduled collections but was subsequently prepared to collect them. There is no suggestion Miss X had redistributed or altered the weight of the sacks before they were collected.
28. The Council states there is no evidence of a repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s refuse sacks or recycling whilst also noting there has been a problem with Mrs X overfilling the sacks for a long time. It states Mrs X only reported missed sack collections in December 2020 and February 2021. But the fact a council officer visited Mrs X in late November 2020 suggests she had reported earlier problems with the collection service that are not shown in the Council’s missed collection records. I do not consider the Council’s records to be a reliable indicator of the extent of the missed or incomplete collections.
29. Mrs X acknowledges there has recently been an improvement in service but is concerned this may not continue. She states the Council did not take all of her refuse sacks she had left at the bottom of her steps on 5 July 2021, despite assurances this would not happen again.
30. I consider the failings in the assisted collection service the Council provides to Mrs X amount to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice. Despite being registered for assisted collections, Mrs X has to carry her refuse sacks and recycling to the pavement for collection and then return them to her property when collections are missed. She has experienced frustration and disappointment that this problem is ongoing despite her complaints and has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Back to top

Agreed action

31. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the ongoing failure to make regular assisted household waste collections has caused.
32. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.
33. The Council has also agreed to monitor Mrs X’s collections for an eight week period to ensure that collections are made from Mrs X’s front door in accordance with the assisted collection service, and that any issues with the weight of any refuse sacks are identified and recorded at each collection. The Council will also reassess whether or not Mrs X’s property can accommodate bins for assisted collection.

Back to top

Final decision

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

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman