Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s household waste collection. That is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to provide rubbish bins and collect household waste from the block of flats where she lives. She said the Council had topped providing household collections six years earlier. She said that had contributed to fly-tipping and problems with rodents. She also said she had been paying the Council for a service that it had not provided.
2. Miss X wanted the Council to provide rubbish bins and reinstate the waste collection service.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X contacted the Council in May 2021. She said she had asked it twice to provide a replacement bin after hers was stolen but it had closed the request. She said there were no bins provided for the residents of the flats where she lived, and people were using commercial bins for their household waste.
7. The Council provided a stage one complaint response in July 2021. That did not address Miss X’s concerns with the waste collection.
8. The Council provided a final complaint response in November 2021. It said following Miss X’s initial complaint both its Enforcement Service and Waste Service had visited the location and identified that there were no bins provided for the flats. However, the Council failed to provide the necessary bin provision. It apologised for that and any associated problems with vermin and fly-tipping.
9. The Council confirmed it had not stopped collecting household waste where she lived. However, accepted that because of the lack of bin provision, why that might of appeared to have been the case.
10. The Council said it had provided two new bins the previous month and would monitor the waste collection to ensure the size of the bins were suitable for the flats. It apologised for not picking up on the matter when she first complained in May and offered a payment of £175 to remedy the delay in arranging the bin provision and to recognise its handling of her complaint.
11. The Council has accepted it was at fault in how it responded to Miss X’s complaint and for not resolving the problem sooner. It has provided rubbish bins for the block of flats and provided a financial remedy for the delay in arranging the new bin provision. That remedy is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint as further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman