Coventry City Council (21 011 469)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not collecting domestic waste regularly. This is because we are unlikely to find fault has caused the complainant significant injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Mr X, states the Council is not collecting his domestic waste regularly. He says he has emailed the Council and his ward councillors to no avail.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 an investigation if, for example, we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault;
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X states that he has been emailing the Council regarding the missed bin collections in the road where he lives since early 2021.
- The Council says on occasions the refuse lorries cannot gain access to the road because of cars belonging to residents. The Council has asked residents to be more mindful with their parking.
- The Council further says, when lorries cannot gain access, the crew has to log the issues and endeavour to return later in their shift.
- Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response and states the refuse collection is still irregular. He is awaiting an update from the Council regarding further guidance to local residents.
- I appreciate it may be frustrating for Mr X if his waste is not collected on time. However, the Council does collect the waste when it can access his road and has not ignored his concerns.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council has caused him significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman