Summary: Mrs N has made a complaint about the Council failing to stop household waste being left outside her property. She says the Council delayed in providing a solution and failed to respond to her. The Ombudsman has identified failings by the Council, including delivering on promises made, maintaining contact with Mrs N and following its own complaints process. This caused Mrs N an injustice and so we have recommended a number of remedies.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mrs N, is making a complaint about the Council telling residents to leave their household waste in bin bags outside her property. She also says the Council has delayed in reaching a resolution and has not provided responses to her correspondence, including formal complaint.
2. Mrs N says the collected household waste made it embarrassing to have visitors and attracted rodents. Further, she says the amount of time taken by the Council to provide a resolution led to a great deal of stress and uncertainty. As a desired outcome, Mrs N wants the Council to deliver on promises, respond in a timely manner and follow its own complaints process.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have reviewed Mrs N’s complaint to the Council and Ombudsman. I have also had regard to the responses of the Council, including supporting documents. Both Mrs N and the Council received an opportunity to comment on a draft of my decision before a final decision was made.

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What I found

Background

5. All local authorities have a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste. Generally, each local authority is different in how and when it collects waste.

Chronology of events

6. In early 2018, local residents were told by the Council to place all the bin bags for collection on the roadside next to Mrs N’s property. In mid-2018, local residents were provided with large bins to place their rubbish in. These were later removed by the Council in September 2018 because other residents on the street were filling the bins and they were being misused.
7. In October 2018, the Council emailed Mrs N to say it was going to put the bins back, but that its highways team needed to put dropped kerbs in place. Mrs N says this never happened. She continued to contact the Council with emails requesting an update, though a response from the Council was not forthcoming.
8. In December 2018, Mrs N emailed the Council again to request an update and also involved a local councillor. The Council then responded and said the bins could not be made available as the footpath in the area was too narrow and would block access. It said however it would hold a meeting in January 2019 to discuss the issue and work towards a resolution.
9. In March 2019, Mrs N submitted a formal complaint to the Council because she did not receive a response relating to the outcome of the meeting. The Council responded that letters would be posted asking residents to place household waste out for collection on the day of collection and not days before. The next month, Mrs N requested her complaint be escalated to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. So far, she has not received a formal response.
10. Between May 2019 and March 2020, Mrs N continued to contact the Council requesting an update and providing photographs of bin bags left outside her property. She says the Council failed to respond to her complaint and that updates were few and far between which did not provide a workable solution.
11. In June 2020, Mrs N was told the Council would provide a lockable bin. Mrs N continued to contact the Council requesting an update monthly to request an update, though responses were not forthcoming.
12. In August 2020, the Council told Mrs N the lockable bin had arrived at a depot, but it was waiting for the retaining system to be supplied. Mrs N continued to contact the Council requesting an update on the resolution.
13. In November 2020, the Council responded to Mrs N saying it could not provide an update about the lockable bin. It said this was because person dealing with the matter was away from the office. Mrs N continued to contact the Council requesting an update on the resolution, though no action was forthcoming.
14. In December 2020, Mrs N complained again to the Council about a large number of rubbish bags being placed outside her property. She provided a photograph to the Council to evidence her concerns. Mrs N also says she sent the Council weekly updates with pictures of bags, yet the Council failed to act.
15. In April 2021, the Council provided lockable bin for local residents.

My findings

16. Mrs N has consistently raised with the Council the problem with household waste being left outside her property. She also provided evidence to support her concerns and frustrations. In April 2021, the Council provided me with its records which show a significant and unreasonable amount of time has lapsed since Mrs N began to voice her concerns. The evidence suggests there was a lack of accountability for the problem and more often than not, Mrs N’s contact and concerns were not responded to. The Council also failed to respond to Mrs N under its own complaints policy as it did not provide a stage two complaint response. I believe the stage one complaint response from the Council was poor which failed to properly consider Mrs N’s issues about delays and responsiveness. This constitutes fault by the Council.
17. In fairness to the Council, it did identify a number of solutions which were communicated to Mrs N. This included undertakings to reinstate the bins in 2018 and dropping a kerb to allow for this. The Council also held a meeting In January 2019 to identify a workable solution. However, having raised Mrs N expectations, the promised solutions did not materialise and the Council failed to provide meaningful updates to her. In my view, the Council’s decision-making was confused and disorganised with many of the proposals being abandoned. I believe this suggests a lack of commitment by the Council to resolve the problem in a timely manner. The Council said it would resolve the problem and was at fault for a significant delay in providing a lasting solution.
18. The Council has since provided the lockable bin, as promised to Mrs N in June 2020. However, the Council’s handling and responsiveness to Mrs N has caused her significant distress and uncertainty over a long period of time. Further, she has had to contend with large scale household waste being placed outside of her property. I have seen evidence the Council internally accepted how unpleasant this was, yet it failed to take accountability and delayed in providing a solution. In my view, the faults identified have caused Mrs N an injustice.

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Agreed action

19. In light of the faults and injustice identified above, the Council will:

• By 25 August 2021, provide Mrs N a written apology which addresses all the faults and injustice identified in this statement. It should also pay Mrs N £300 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty she has suffered.
• By 20 October 2021, a senior officer of the Council with no prior involvement in the complaint will undertake a review of Mrs N’s case. The review will focus on the Council’s contact responsiveness, its complaints process and the time which lapsed without a solution being made available. The review will identify improvements to be implemented by the Council in order to enhance its communications policy and timely delivery of services.

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Final decision

20. The Council was at fault for delaying in providing a lasting solution to local residents leaving household waste outside Mrs N’s property. It also failed to respond to Mrs N in a timely manner and take accountability for her concerns. This caused Mrs N an injustice and so I have recommended a remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman