London Borough of Merton (21 012 453)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s food waste collection service. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The matter complained about did not cause the complainant a significant personal injustice and it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained the Council failed to collect her household food waste.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In its response to Miss X’s complaint the Council apologised for the missed collection. It said the driver of the collection vehicle could not speak English and failed to tell a colleague Miss X’s bin had been missed. The Council wrongly closed Miss X’s report of a missed collection and it was sorry she felt a member of staff had been rude. The bin was collected when Miss X made a formal complaint.
- Missed collections are annoying and frustrating. But we do not have the resources to investigate all the complaints we receive. We only investigate the most serious complaints. We will not therefore investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the injustice to Miss X is not serious enough. Even if we were to investigate, it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response, or that we would recommend a remedy over and above the apology and explanation already given.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the matter complained about did not cause a significant personal injustice and it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman