Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to collect the communal waste from his building on the scheduled days between September 2021 and February 2022. The repeated failure to collect the communal waste as scheduled amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X complained the Council failed to collect the communal waste from his building between September 2021 and February 2022. The building managers had to arrange and pay for private waste collections as the level of accumulated waste was a health hazard. Mr X is concerned the cost of these collections will be passed on to the residents.
2. Mr X also complained the Council’s explanations and the reasons given for the missed collections were flawed and did not accurately reflect why the collections were missed. He states the Council collected the recycling as scheduled throughout, and that household waste collections resumed in February 2022 without the need to change any of the existing arrangements.

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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 Mr X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Mr X;
• Mr X and the Council 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 Domestic Recycling and Waste Service Specification states it will provide blocks of flats with communal facilities for recycling and refuse. The number and size of bins, and the frequency of collections will depend on the number of households in the development. The Council provides five containers and makes twice weekly collections from Mr X’s block.
8. The collection point for communal containers is assessed and a case by case basis and considers factors such as storage space, access/egress and whether it is a gated community. Once empty the Council will return the containers to the collection point. Where they are not the same, it will then be the responsibility of the Management Company to move the container from the collection point to any designated storage area.
9. 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

10. Mr X complains that following the introduction of a cycle lane on his road there have been problems with the waste collections from his building. The Council has continued to collect the recycling as scheduled, but repeatedly missed the household waste between September 2021 and February 2022.
11. He states he registered several missed collections on the Council’s website, but the reports were closed without the waste being collected. On 23 September 2021 Mr X contacted his local councillor for assistance in resolving the problem as the Council had not collected the waste for five weeks. The Council arranged an ad hoc collection, but the following scheduled collection was missed. Mr X asked the Council to resume weekly collections and to escalate his complaint further.
12. As Mr X did not receive a response, on 15 October 2021 he contacted his MP for assistance. He noted their waste had not been collected as scheduled for eight weeks and they had twice had to pay for private collections. Mr X stated a member of the collection crew had informed him they were no longer collecting waste from his building as the cycle lane prevented them from stopping outside. Mr X copied several officers at the Council into his email and made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding the missed collections. He then chased the Council for a response on 5 November 2021.
13. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint on 24 November 2021. It apologised for the poor standard of service Mr X had received from waste services and in response to his FOI request. The Council confirmed a service manager had visited the site and that the waste had been cleared. The Council stated several factors contributed to the ongoing issues with the collections, including the need for an electronic fob to gain access, and the bus lane. It had made the caretaker and managing agent aware of the issues and had suggested possible temporary solutions.
14. Mr X was not satisfied by the Council’s response. He acknowledged that the bins had now been emptied but did not consider the Council had addressed the root cause. Mr X noted there as no bus lane on his street, and that the new cycle lane was narrower than the on street parking it had replaced. He also asserted there had not been any problems with the electronic fob or a need to move the bins out on to the road since the building was built 15 years earlier.
15. A service manger contacted Mr X to discuss his concerns. The Council’s records show it was unable to collect the waste as scheduled on 26 November 2021 and had contacted the managing agency again to find a solution.
16. Mr X contacted the Council again on 14 December 2021 as the waste was still not being collected as scheduled and he had not received a response to his FOI request. The Council responded to Mr X’s FOI request on 30 December 2021. It explained Mr X’s bins had not been collected as they were stored in a car park underneath the flats so the crew had to pull them out and up a slope to empty them. This meant the vehicle would have to block the road for a long period. Mr X’s road had become very busy as the roads around it had been closed, so it was not always feasible to block the road for the required period of time.
17. The Council also confirmed the recycling bins were smaller than the household waste bins and recycling collections were made using a smaller alley cat vehicle. This meant recycling collections were quicker. It also confirmed the introduction of the cycle lane had impacted on the collections.
18. The Council sent a further response to Mr X’s complaint on 7 January 2022 and again confirmed it was liaising with the building managing agents to find a solution. The Council had suggested the building management team present the containers at a new collection point which would reduce the distance the collection crew had to move the containers and therefore the time spent obstructing traffic. The crew would then return the containers to the collection point. The Council confirmed it had not yet had a response from the managing agents and invited Mr X to raise his concerns with the agents directly.
19. As Mr X remains dissatisfied he has asked the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint. He is concerned the problems with the waste collections are due to changes the Council made to the road lay out and that rather than resolve the problem, it expected him to take it up with the building management.
20. Mr X states scheduled collections resumed in early February 2022 without any changes being made. He asserts there was a complete failure of the system and that the Councils explanation for the problems were disingenuous. Mr X is concerned the managing agents may pass on the cost of the private waste collections if they are unable to recover this from the Council.
21. In response to my enquiries the Council states it does not share Mr X’s view that it explanations were misleading, but it does accept that an investigation into the problem should have started sooner. It states that COVID-19 has had an impact on all depot investigations.
22. The Council states it has not received a request for reimbursement of the cost of any private waste collections from Mr X’s managing agents. It states that it would not normally reimburse the cost of a third party being deployed to clear waste or recycling collections. The Council would expect to be given notice of any potential charges, and the opportunity to rectify the situation.

Analysis

23. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect the waste from Mr X’s building for several months. These failings in the service amount to fault.
24. The Council asserts the missed collections were due to a combination of factors but appear to be primarily due to the removal of on street parking bays and the introduction of a cycle lane in front of the building. The communal bins had been stored, collected from, and returned to the same place for many years and access had always required an electronic fob.
25. It is unclear what consideration was given to the impact the introduction of the cycle lane on Mr X’s road and alterations to the surrounding roads would have on waste collection services. But clearly the Council should have anticipated there would be much less space for the collection vehicle to pull over or park, and that collections could be affected. It should have identified any changes necessary to the existing system for collecting the waste to ensure collections could continue to be made as scheduled.
26. The Council has now taken action to redress the problem and scheduled collections have resumed. This is to be welcomed. But as the Council acknowledges the investigation into the problem should have started sooner. Collections appear to have resumed without any changes to the collection arrangements. The Council asked the managing agents to present the containers in a new collection point but the agents did not consider this feasible. The documentation provided shows the Council still collects the containers from the storage room. This suggests the Council could have resolved the matter sooner.
27. I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has responded to Mr X’s emails and complaints. The Council’s complaints process states it will respond to complaints at stage 1 within 15 working days, and at stage 2 of the process within 20 working days of the request.
28. Mr X repeatedly contacted the Council to complain about the service in October and November 2021, including involving his MP and making a FOI request. There is no record the Council acknowledged his emails and did not respond to his complaint until 24 November 2021. This is significantly outside its own timeframe.
29. There was also a delay in responding to Mr X complaint at stage 2 of the procedure. Mr X asked for his complaint to be reviewed on 24 November 2021 and despite chasing the Council only received a response on 7 January 2022. This is again outside the Council’s published timeframe to respond.
30. The Council initially stated the managing agents had not requested the Council reimburse the cost of private collections. It has since confirmed that although there was no formal claim, the managing agent had been in direct contact with an officer regarding the costs. The Council advised the managing agents that it could not comment on the matter while our investigation was ongoing.
31. This is both incorrect and concerning. The managing agents have not made a complaint to the Ombudsman and, given our investigations are in confidence, we would not expect the Council to discuss any ongoing complaints made by third parties with the managing agents. We would expect the Council to properly consider any claim from the managing agents regarding the cost of private collections arising from failures in its waste collection service.
32. Having identified fault I must consider whether this has caused Mr X a significant injustice. The documentation suggest the Council made two ad hoc collections between September 2021 and February 2022, but the scheduled collections were all missed. This will inevitably have led to a significant accumulation of waste, which will have been unpleasant for the residents. I note the managing agents arranged to dispose of the accumulated waste privately and have not as yet charged the residents for these collections. The possibility of being asked to pay additional charges has nevertheless been a cause of concern for Mr X.
33. Mr X has experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. He has also been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

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Agreed action

34. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the failure to make regular waste collections or respond to his correspondence has caused.
35. The Council should take this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

36. The Council’s the repeated failure to collect the communal waste as scheduled amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman