Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about difficulties with the clinical waste service. This is because the Council has provided a fair response and there is insufficient evidence of injustice. In addition, part of the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that for eight years he has had to keep phoning the Council for collections/deliveries of his sharps box.

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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:

• the Council has provided a fair remedy, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I asked the Council how often there has been a problem with the service. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. The Council delivers and collects sharps boxes for use by Mr X. Mr X has to call the customer service centre to request a collection/delivery and for updates.
6. There was a problem with a delivery in 2015 because the system did not handle Mr X’s address and post code correctly.
7. There was another problem in September 2020. The Council booked the wrong date to collect a box from Mr X. Instead of correcting the date the Council cancelled the collection. The Council rearranged the collection once it realised its error.
8. The Council apologised to Mr X. It also explained it had amended its system in September so there should not be any more problems of finding the correct address from the postcode.
9. Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response. He says he has had problems for eight years. He has spent a lot of money on phone calls because he has to keep calling the Council due to its inability to do its job properly. Mr X thinks he will experience more problems in the future.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because the Council has provided an appropriate response by apologising and rearranging the collection that was cancelled in error in September. It has also changed the system to stop the problem associated with the postcode from reoccurring. Once the apology and remedial steps are taken into account, there is not enough injustice to require an investigation.
11. I appreciate Mr X says he has had problems for eight years. But, the law says people should complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of a problem. For this reason, I have restricted my consideration of the complaint to the 12 months before Mr X complained to us. And, in that time, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
12. The Council says Mr X has not reported any problems with the service since September 2020. If there are problems Mr X can make a new complaint to the Council.

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Final decision

13. I will not start an investigation because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation. In addition, part of the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman