Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the quality of street cleaning in his local area. This is because we are unlikely to find fault with how the Council has dealt with the matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mr C, complains about the quality of street cleaning in his local area. Mr C says there is too much litter on his street and that overflowing bins are adding to the problem. Mr C says the litter regularly blows into his property.

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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 would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mr C’s complaint and the Council’s response. I have invited Mr C to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

Background

4. In December 2019, Mr C complained to us about how the Council had addressed his concerns about the cleanliness of his street.
5. Mr C complained about fly-tipping, the amount of litter on the street and that the bins on the street regularly overflowed.
6. The Council agreed that it would carry out a period of monitoring to identify the root of the problem and decide how it would deal with these issues.

What has happened since

7. The Council provided us with evidence showing that it carried out three months of monitoring on Mr C’s street. Officers visited the street and recorded the level of littering and how full the bins were. Photographs were also provided which supported their findings.
8. On most days, the Council recorded that the bins were either empty or were less than half full.
9. The Council also recorded that on most days, there was either no litter or that the street was predominantly free of litter.
10. The Council concluded that its schedule of cleaning the street and emptying the bins three times per week was sufficient to deal with the level of littering.
11. Since the Council finished its three months of monitoring there have been seven reports of littering and two reports that bins were overflowing.
12. Mr C complains that the action taken by the Council is not enough and has not resolved the problem of littering. He says the bins are regularly overflowing and that this is likely to be a cause of the littering.
13. In response, the Council caried out a further inspection of Mr C’s street. It found that the bins were 25% full, and that the street was predominantly free of litter.

Assessment

14. I will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with litter on the street where he lives.
15. In response to Mr C’s complaint, the Council has demonstrated that it has carried out a period of monitoring on the street and concluded that the current schedule of clearance on the street is sufficient.
16. Records show that since the period of monitoring the Council has responded to reports of littering, and that a recent inspection found that the situation had not worsened.
17. Mr C says the Council has not done enough to ensure the streets near him are clean. However, it is for the Council to decide how to use its resources to carry out street cleaning.
18. The Council has explained why it considers the current schedule to be sufficient and has supported this with evidence. It is therefore unlikely I would find fault in how the Council has reached this decision.

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Final decision

19. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely that we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman