Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect household waste from the communal bin servicing her block of flats. This led to a build-up of waste which is unsightly, unsanitary and caused problems with odours and pests/ rodents. The Council’s repeated failure, over a sustained period, to collect Mrs X’s household waste on a weekly basis amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect household waste from the communal bin servicing her block of flats. She states that although collections should take place each week, their household waste is generally only collected every other week. This leads to a build-up of waste which is unsightly, unsanitary and can cause problems with odours and pests/ rodents.
2. Mrs X complains that despite the Council’s repeated assurances that crews would be reminded, and the bin would be collected, the problem has continued.

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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. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Mrs X;
• Mrs X and the organisation 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

Refuse and recycling collections

6. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
7. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
8. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.

What happened here

9. Mrs X and the residents of two other flats share a large communal container for household waste. Mrs X states the level of waste they produce varies and some weeks the container is fuller than others. She complains that although there should be weekly collections, their bin is routinely missed every other week. This means it is very full by the end of the second week and the lid will not close leading to unpleasant smells and pests.
10. The Council’s records show Mrs X has regularly reported missed collections, not just on alternate weeks, but also some consecutive weeks. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the Council made the collections in a timely manner.
11. For example, Mrs X reported missed collections on 27 October, 3 November, and 10 November 2021. The Council closed these reports on 15 November, 18 November, and 29 November 2021 respectively. This not only suggests a significant delay in collecting the waste, but is also curious, as if the Council made a collection on 15 November 2021, it could have closed all three reports that day.
12. Similarly, Mrs X reported missed collections on 12 January and 26 January 2022, which the Council closed on 22 January and 14 February 2022 respectively. It is unclear why the Council did not close the reports on the next scheduled collection day. Or, if the Council made a collection on 22 January 2022, as its records suggest, why it did not close both reports that day.
13. In addition to reporting missed collections, Mrs X has also made formal complaints about the waste collection service. In November 2020 Mrs X complained the Council had missed the communal waste collections every other week since August 2020. She questioned why this was happening. The Council responded promptly and confirmed it had asked a manager to speak to the collection crew and to arrange a collection as soon as possible. It did not offer any explanation for the missed collections.
14. As the problem continued, Mrs X asked the Council to review her complaint. The Council arranged to monitor Mrs X’s collections for the following three months. During this period Mrs X complained about further missed collections.
15. Mrs X made a further complaint in April 2021. She noted the Council had missed five collections during the monitoring period and the situation had not improved. Mrs X felt the collection crews were ignoring their bin and in order to save themselves time and trouble had decided not to empty it each week as it was not full. She asserted this was not the crew’s decision and asked the Council to resolve the problem.
16. The Council’s response again confirmed it had asked the manager to speak to the crew and arrange for a collection as soon as possible. It also confirmed it would issue the crews a written notice on collection day to ensure regular collections take place.
17. This did not resolve the problem and the missed collections continued. Mrs X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint. In response to my enquiries the Council states Mrs X’s property is currently on a 1100 litre communal container round. As the containers often have little waste in them, the crews have been emptying them on a fortnightly basis for some time. The Council suggests residents were reporting missed collections as they were unaware collections were taking place fortnightly.
18. The Council states that as it has a commitment to provide weekly collections it will look into providing smaller communal bins or individual bins. It will discuss this with the residents before making any changes. The Council accepts it could have pursued this solution much earlier than it has.

Analysis

19. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Mrs X’s household waste. The Council accepts that although there should be weekly collections, the crews have, for a significant period, only been making fortnightly collections. The Council has not confirmed who made the decision to reduce the frequency of collections, or when this decision was made.
20. Residents were not consulted or advised about the change in the frequency of collections and the Council’s responses to Mrs X’s complaints do not refer to a change in the frequency of collections. It is therefore possible the Council was initially unaware, and that the collection crews instigated this change in practice without formal notice or permission.
21. It is disappointing that having carried out monitoring in early 2021, which showed alternate collections were being missed, the Council did not identify the reason for this or an appropriate resolution.
22. I recognise the Council will seek to resolve this issue by changing the bins and ensuring there are weekly collections, and this is to be welcomed. But as the Council acknowledges, it could have taken this action much sooner. Had the Council properly investigated Mrs X’s complaints at the outset it could have identified that crews were not complying with its service standards and resolved the issue over a year ago.
23. These failings in the service amount to fault.
24. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. Mrs X has had to find ways to manage the accumulation of waste and the associated problems of smells and pests. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mrs X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

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Agreed action

25. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £300 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make weekly waste collections over a sustained period has caused.
26. The Council has also agreed to consult residents on its proposals to improve the service by changing the type of bin it provides. The Council should then keep residents informed of any decisions and a timeframe for implementing any changes.
27. Pending any alterations and improvements to the service the Council has agreed to arrange to monitor Mrs X’s household waste collections for eight weeks to ensure there are weekly collections.
28. The Council should take this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

29. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s household waste on a weekly basis amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman