Summary: Mr Y complains the Council has regularly missed his refuse collections over the last six years and failed to resolve the problem, despite making numerous complaints. We find fault by the Council for how long it took to resolve the problem. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr Y and look at lessons that can be learnt from this case.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council has regularly missed his refuse collections over the last six years and has failed to resolve the problem despite many complaints. He says this meant he had to take refuse to the waste centre himself and use a considerable amount of his own time repeatedly complaining to the Council.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated the complaint about missed refuse collections and the Council’s actions in response from April 2020 to June 2021.

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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)
4. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless he decides there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D)
5. 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

6. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I spoke with Mr Y on the telephone.
7. I invited Mr Y and the Council to comment on a draft decision and considered any comments made in response.

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What I found

8. The Council works in partnership with Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), who manage household waste services on behalf of the Council. SWP contract waste services to SUEZ, who are assigned to collect waste from Mr Y’s property. For the purpose of this decision statement, the actions of the Council and SWP are both referred to as the Council.
9. Mr Y lives in a rural location. He said his refuse collections are regularly missed because of this, even though he has supplied the Council and its contractors with precise location information and received visits from Council representatives to confirm the location. Mr Y said his refuse collection should happen once every three weeks.
10. Mr Y said he has complained to the Council about the matter on many occasions. He said the Council has often apologised and referred the matter to its contractor to improve the service. Mr Y said despite these actions, any improvements have only lasted for a short period.
11. My Y estimates that between April 2020 and April 2021, his refuse was only collected around 50% of the time it should have been. He said on six occasions he has had to put the refuse in his car to take to the local waste centre. Due to his rural location, he also said that when refuse collections are missed it often means wildlife can get into the bins which causes the rubbish to be displaced.
12. Mr Y said that since complaining to the Ombudsman in June 2021, the Council has resolved the issue and his refuse collections are now made as scheduled.
13. Between April 2020 and April 2021, the Council logged nine missed refuse collection reports and four missed refuse complaints from Mr Y.
14. The Council referred some of the complaints to its contractor SUEZ. SUEZ did not always respond to the missed bin collections promptly.
15. The Council said the cause of the missed collection was Mr Y’s rural location, but Mr Y had provided precise location details and multiple visits and complaints should have resolved the issue. The Council acknowledged that Mr Y’s complaint was entirely preventable and that it had multiple opportunities to resolve the issue.
16. The Council said it has put a six-point plan in place to resolve Mr Y’s refuse collection issue. It said any future missed collection reports will reactivate the plan.

Analysis

17. Mr Y made four complaints to the Council about missed refuse collections at his property between April 2020 and April 2021. The Council acknowledged there was a problem with the collections being made but failed to take the required action to resolve the issue until May 2021. It passed on reported issues to its waste collection contractor but did not ensure that the matters were responded to and resolved. This was fault.
18. The Council has acknowledged its failings in this matter and has taken steps to resolve this individual situation, which is a positive step.

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Agreed action

19. To remedy the injustice caused by the Council’s fault in this matter, the Council has agreed to send a written apology to Mr Y within one month of a final decision.
20. The Council has also agreed to look at lessons that can be learnt from this case. Within three months of a final decision, the Council will;

• Review its policy of handling complaints about refuse collections to ensure appropriate measures are in place for responding to complainants and resolving any problems in a timely manner. Share the outcome of this review and lessons learnt with all Council officers involved in handling refuse complaints;
• Write to its refuse collection contractor, SUEZ, to remind it of the Council’s expectations for refuse collection and any complaint handling it takes part in on behalf of the Council.

21. Evidence of having completed the above remedies should be sent to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

22. I uphold a finding of fault against the Council for the reasons detailed in this statement. I have recommended actions the Council can take to remedy the injustice caused by its fault in this matter, which the Council has agreed to.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

23. Mr Y said his refuse collections have been regularly missed over the last six years. I did not investigate missed refuse collections before April 2020, as that part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman