Summary: Ms X complains the Council was at fault in repeatedly failing to collect refuse from her property. We found fault because the Council failed to provide Ms X with the refuse collection service she expected for periods in 2019 and 2020. But the actions taken by the Council to resolve matters has remedied any injustice caused to Ms X, so we have completed our investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant whom I shall refer to as Ms X says the Council has repeatedly failed to collect refuse from her property since August 2019. Ms X says this caused her frustration, distress, and costs in trying to manage her waste and store the accumulated refuse from the missed collections.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have read the papers submitted by Ms X and spoken to her about the complaint. I considered the Council’s comments on the complaint and the supporting documents it provided.
5. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The law, policy and practice

6. Councils have a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling free of charge. The collections do not have to be weekly, and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
7. Many councils use a contractor to provide their waste and recycling services on their behalf. In such cases the council retains ultimate responsibility for ensuring the quality of the service and being accountable if things go wrong. The contractor may initially respond to reports of problems or complaints, but the council retains ownership.

The Council’s refuse collection policy

8. The Council operates a weekly kerbside collection of household waste and fortnightly kerbside collection of recycling. It aims to collect waste and recycling on the same day of the week between 7 am and 6 pm.
9. The Council provides residents with waste containers and bin capacity is allocated on the number of permanent residents at a property. As a standard the Council provides households of four residents or less with one 140 litre waste bin. It provides a household of five to seven residents with one 240 litre bin and households of seven residents and over one 360 litre waste bin. The Council gives all households one 240 litre recycling bin and one 48 litre glass box. Residents can ask for extra recycling bins and glass boxes.
10. The Council’s policy lists reasons for bins not being collected. This includes being put out on the wrong day, not placed at the boundary of a property for collection and overfilled or overweight bins. If there are missed collections the Council requests residents to ring the Customer Services centre within 24 hours. If the Council is told of a missed collection by 12 noon on the day, it will try to return the same day. If it is notified after 12 noon it will collect the next working day. The Council’s policy is not to collect side waste left next to a wheeled bin.
11. The Council uses a contractor to collect waste and recycling on its behalf. Under the terms of the Council’s contract with the contractor it will notify it of problems with collections at a property.

Events in 2019

12. Ms X’s property is in a row of houses accessed by an alleyway. So, Ms X and her neighbours leave their waste and recycling for collection at a designated place on a nearby road. In August 2019 Ms X reported two missed waste collections. Ms X complained to the Council and reported a third missed waste collection.
13. The Council apologised to Ms X for any inconvenience caused. It explained changes it had made to the collection days for many residents and a change of collection crew for others. The Council asked Ms X to place her bins out at the closest point the refuse lorry could access. And asked residents to bear with it while the crews adjusted to the new rounds and unfamiliar bin locations. The Council said the contractor was investigating the matter and expected to resolve the issue by Ms X’s next collection scheduled for 30 August 2019.
14. Ms X was unhappy with the Council’s response and reported issues with missed collections for months. Ms X said the crews failed to return and collect her missed collections.
15. Ms X reported a missed recycling and glass collection in September 2019 and asked the Council to reduce her Council Tax payments as a result. The Council told Ms X to place her bins out as it arranged for a crew to pick up the missed collection. The Council explained Council Tax was a statutory tax paid to cover many local services and facilities all year not only for refuse and recycling. It confirmed that even if there had been a missed refuse collection it did not allow a resident to withhold paying Council Tax.
16. Ms X reported the crew failed to collect her recycling and they had missed a collection from the whole street. Ms X said she now had an overflowing recycling bin with nowhere to put the current weeks’ recycling. Ms X said she could not log a missed collection that day because the crew had not finished the round.
17. The Council responded it had seen her logs of missed recycling and glass collections and confirmed the crew would collect it that day. The Council reported the contractor had spoken to the crew to ensure no further missed collections. The Council accepted it was not always possible for a crew to return and collect a missed collection the same day. So would make this clearer to those logging a missed collection on its web site.
18. Ms X remained unhappy with the Council’s response. Ms X said the crew had still not collected her recycling with the issues continuing for months. Ms X said the matter had not been resolved despite the Council saying it had in August 2019. Ms X reported the crew returned during the week and only emptied a few bins, so asked to escalate her complaint to stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure.
19. The Council responded to Ms X’s stage 2 complaint on 30 September 2019. The Council stated officers had visited Ms X’s property but been unable to establish why she was having problems with collections when her neighbours were not. The Council said it would monitor the collections over the next few weeks and asked Ms X to report if she had any issues. The Council admitted its waste collection service had been going through a period of significant change which caused unreliability in some areas. The Council apologised to Ms X for any inconvenience caused.
20. Ms X contacted the Council on 29 November 2019. Ms X said the collections had been running smoothly since September 2019, but the crews missed her waste bin that day. Ms X considered it deliberate as both her neighbour’s bins were collected. Ms X said it caused an issue because her waste bin was small so would be full by the next collection day and the crews did not collect side waste. Ms X asked the Council to provide a larger bin to hold the waste she collected or a Council Tax refund.

Events in 2020

21. Ms X contacted the Council again on 6 January 2020 as it had not responded to her complaint in November 2019. Ms X reported a missed recycling collection. Ms X emailed the Council on 24 January 2020 to chase a response. Ms X reported a missed waste collection for her bin and for the entire row of houses where she lived. The Council acknowledged the complaint and confirmed it would investigate. Ms X’s MP also submitted a complaint on her behalf.
22. The Council responded to the MP’s complaint. It explained it had escalated matters with its contractor and understood the issue was due to where residents placed the bins for collection. The Council considered the matter resolved and confirmed it would monitor four collections.
23. Ms X reported a missed collection in July 2020. Ms X complained to the Council on 4 September 2020 her waste bin had not been emptied despite leaving it out for collection the night before. Ms X said other bins had been emptied but hers left. Ms X asked for an extra bin to store her waste in because of the missed collection.
24. The Council responded and apologised for the missed collection. It reported an officer had been to check the bin and confirmed it had been emptied. The Council declined Ms X’s request for an extra bin. It agreed to reopen her case and investigate the matter if there were recurring missed collections. Ms X reported a missed waste collection a week later. Ms X said her bin was full as the crew collected up waste from bins not placed out on the designated collection spot and put it in her bin. Ms X asked the Council to empty her bin and asked for a larger waste bin.
25. The Council emailed Ms X on 23 September 2020 apologising for the missed collection and asked if it had now been emptied. The Council refused Ms X’s request for a larger bin as she had two people in her household and so only qualified for the standard size bin. The Council confirmed it aimed to find out why a bin was missed rather than providing extra waste bins as this did not solve the problem. Ms X reported the collection had now been made.

Events in 2021

26. Ms X contacted the Council in January 2021 to complain about a missed collection. Ms X said the crews missed her bin but emptied the bins on either side. Ms X applied for a larger waste bin. Ms X explained it was due to the missed collections and so had weeks of waste to store because the crews did not return when she logged a missed collection. Ms X said she needed a larger bin as a solution.
27. The Council responded and explained it allows households with one to four people a 140-litre waste bin emptied each week. The Council Ms X’s household had two people with no medical needs so the standard bin size should be sufficient. The Council reminded Ms X it would not collect any side waste left out with a bin and she could dispose of excess waste at the household waste and recycling centre. The Council told Ms X it did not limit the recycling containers a household could put out for collection.
28. Ms X remains unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaints but confirms there have been no further missed waste and recycling collections since January 2021.

My assessment

29. The evidence provided shows Ms X reported missed collections during August and September 2019. The Council accepts there was some unreliability of its service then mainly because of a change in collection crews and collections days. Ms X reported further issues in November and early December 2019 causing her to complain again in January 2020. I consider the failure to provide the refuse and recycling service expected by Ms X during August, September, November, and early December 2019 was fault by the Council. I consider the fault caused an injustice to Ms X through her frustration over the missed collections and her and time and trouble in reporting them.
30. The documents show that following Ms X’s complaints in August 2019 and January 2020 the Council apologised for the missed collections. It also investigated and raised the issues with the contractor to resolve matters. The Council also monitored the collections for a few weeks afterwards.
31. Ms X reported intermittent missed collections in July and September 2020. I consider the failure to provide the collection service Ms X expected during 2020 was also fault by the Council. This caused an injustice to Ms X through her frustration about the missed collections and her time and trouble in reporting them. The evidence shows the Council responded to these complaints, investigated again, and apologised to Ms X.
32. Ms X requests financial compensation for the missed bin collections by a reduction or refund of her Council Tax payments. As the Council has explained Council Tax is a statutory tax collected to cover many services provided by the Council as well as refuse and recycling. As such we do not recommend a resident receives a refund or reduction in Council Tax for a missed service. But we can recommend a financial payment to remedy any injustice caused.
33. I have considered whether to recommend a financial payment in this case. The evidence shows Ms X suffered most missed collections in 2019 which the Council resolved as there were few missed collections recorded in 2020. Ms X says there have been no missed collections since January 2021. This confirms the Council has been able to resolve the matter, so I do not recommend a financial remedy in this case. This is because I consider the Council has taken suitable action by apologising to Ms X, investigating her concerns, and monitoring the collections. The Council’s action remedies any injustice caused to Ms X by its failure to provide the refuse collection service she expected for periods in 2019, and 2020. In addition, I do not consider any further investigation by us is likely to lead to a different outcome for Ms X as the Council has already resolved matters.
34. The Council considered Ms X’s request for a larger waste bin but declined as was not according to its refuse collection policy. This was because of the number of members in Ms X’s household meant she was entitled to the 140-litre waste bin. This is a decision the Council was entitled to make. There is no evidence of fault in the way it was taken as it was according to its policy.

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Final decision

35. I am completing my investigation. The Council was at fault in failing to provide Ms X with the refuse collection service she expected for periods during 2019 and 2020 . But the actions taken by the Council to resolve matters has remedied any injustice caused to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman