Birmingham City Council (20 009 604)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Feb 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a missed bin collection because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council failed to empty his bin and still did not empty it when the crew came back. Mr X wants compensation and for staff to be disciplined.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
What I found
What happened
- Mr X told the Council that his bin was not emptied on 10 December. He said he had filmed the crew open the lid, see the rubbish, but not empty the bin.
- In response, the Council apologised and said the crew returned on 16 December to empty the bin but found it was empty. The Council reminded the crews they must empty a bin regardless of whether it is full. Mr X says this is untrue and there was still rubbish in the bin on 16 December after the second visit. Mr X wants compensation and for staff to be disciplined.
Assessment
- Missed collections are annoying and frustrating. However, the impact of one missed collection, even if this was not rectified on 16 December, does not represent a level of injustice which requires an investigation. In addition, we would not expect a council to pay compensation for one missed collection and we have no power to ask for staff to be disciplined.
Final decision
- I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman