Summary: Mr X complained the Council’s waste contractors repeatedly failed to collect, empty and return his bins. He says the contractors left litter on his property and wrongly advised him they had emptied his bins when they had not. Mr X also complains the Council delayed rectifying the missed collections and incurred delays in the complaint handling process. Mr X says the Council’s actions caused avoidable frustration to him. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to provide a remedy to address the injustice identified.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s waste contractors repeatedly failed to collect, empty and return his bins, despite complaining previously about the same matter. He says the contractors left litter on his property and wrongly advised him they had emptied his bins when they had not.
2. Mr X also complained the Council delayed rectifying the missed collections and incurred delays in the complaint handling process. He says he feels the missed collections are deliberate and that the continued service failure has caused avoidable frustration to him.

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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. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
5. 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

6. I discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered the information he provided.
7. I made enquiries to the Council and considered the information it provided.
8. Mr X and the Council have had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation

9. 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.
10. The Council's practice is to make fortnightly recycling and household waste collections.
11. The Council will arrange for missed collections to be returned to if a resident reports this within one working day of the scheduled collection.
12. If the contractor fails to collect a bin, fully empty it, or return it, the Council puts the address on an ‘assured’ property list. This highlights to the contractor that there has been repeated service failure at the address. When an address is on this list, the waste management contractor should monitor the collections more closely to resolve the service issue.

The Council’s complaints policy

13. The Council has a two-stage complaint procedure:
• Stage 1: A senior officer from the service will oversee the complaint investigation. The Council will provide a written response to the complaint within 20 working days.
• Stage 2: A monitoring officer will decide whether to consider the complaint at stage 2 of the process. If the Council does not accept the complaint, it will tell the complainant within five working days. If the Council accepts the complaint, the deputy monitoring officer or manager will undertake the complaint investigation. The Council will provide a written response within 20 working days. If this is not possible, the Council will let the customer know and give a new timescale.

Background

14. Mr X brought a previous complaint about missed bin collections to us in 2021. During this period, the Council placed Mr X’s property on its assured list.

What happened

15. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
16. In September 2021, Mr X reported two instances of the waste crews leaving some rubbish in his bins after collection. The Council told Mr X it had escalated this matter to the service director because the issue had occurred soon after our investigation of Mr X’s previous complaint.
17. In November 2021, Mr X emailed the Council to say the contractors had not returned his bins to the agreed location and had left litter near his property. He said despite assurances from the Council following his previous complaint, the service from the contractors had returned to the levels previously experienced. Mr X asked the Council to record his dissatisfaction as a complaint.
18. The Council replied on the same day. It acknowledged Mr X’s comments and said it would instruct the contractor to return to Mr X’s property urgently. The Council told Mr X it would not treat his enquiry as a complaint because Mr X had copied the waste team into his email, and it had taken action.

Mr X’s complaint

19. Mr X responded and said the Council’s previous solution of placing him on the assured list for a period of four weeks was not acceptable as the service failure had resumed shortly afterwards. Mr X told the Council he wanted the matter to be recorded as a stage one complaint and said he should be placed on the assured list for a minimum of six months.
20. The Council replied to Mr X on the same day and said it would escalate Mr X’s complaint straight to stage two. The Council said this was to provide Mr X with quicker access to refer his complaint to us again if required.
21. The Council contacted its waste management contractor in December 2021. The Council gave details of Mr X’s most recent complaint and said it had tasked the contractor with monitoring collections and the standards of the service crews. The Council asked its waste management contractor to provide it with information about when Mr X’s property was included on the assured list.
22. On 24 December 2021, the Council emailed Mr X and told him it was still considering his complaint. It said it had hoped to provide a response within 20 working days, but it required more time. The Council told Mr X it hoped to provide a complaint response by 12 January 2022 but said it would update him if it needed more time.
23. A few days later, the Council made a further request to its waste management contractor for the information regarding the period Mr X’s property was included on the assured list.
24. The contractor replied to the Council in January 2022 and said it was still trying to get the information requested.
25. Mr X contacted the Council on 9 January 2022 to report a further missed collection. He said he was also still waiting for the Council’s response to his stage two complaint.
26. The Council replied on 11 January 2022 and said the officer who had been dealing with Mr X’s complaint was no longer working for the Council. It said a different officer was considering the complaint and the Council needed more time to provide its response. The Council apologised for the delay but said it hoped to provide its complaint response by 26 January 2022.
27. On the same day, the Council contacted its waste management contractor again to ask for recommendations on how to avoid further issues. The contractor told the Council it had asked its supervisors to implement a weekly visual inspection of Mr X’s bins, with photographs to ensure the collections had taken place. The contractor said it had previously done this but had recently stopped as the issues appeared to be resolved.
28. The Council wrote to Mr X on 13 January 2022 to tell him it was placing him on the assured list again. The Council said it would monitor Mr X’s collections and obtain feedback from the waste crews and supervisors.
29. The Council made a further request to its waste management contractor on 18 January 2022 for the information regarding the period Mr X’s property was previously placed on the assured list.
30. The contractor replied to the Council on the following day with the information requested. It said it had placed Mr X on the assured list again until the end of April 2022.

The Council’s complaint response

31. The Council provided its stage two complaint response to Mr X on 26 January 2022. It apologised for the time taken to provide its response but said it had kept Mr X informed throughout the process. The Council said it had reviewed its waste policy regarding any items left in service users’ bins after collection. It said any jammed waste that may be stuck to the bin and did not fall out during the normal mechanical emptying process would not be taken. However, the Council said it had reviewed the information provided to it and considered the waste remaining in Mr X’s bin in September 2021 was not stuck. On this basis, the Council said the crew should have ensured all the contents of Mr X’s bin were emptied.
32. The Council told Mr X it had placed his property on the assured list for six months starting from 8 January 2022. It said it would review any concerns raised during this period before deciding if this period needed to be extended. The Council acknowledged the waste crews had failed to collect and empty Mr X’s bins on several occasions and upheld Mr X’s complaint.

What happened next

33. The Council told its waste contractor to include Mr X on the assured list for six months. The contractor acknowledged the request and confirmed it had instructed its crews to take photographic evidence of the collections.
34. Mr X reported a further missed collection in April 2022 and asked the Council to escalate his complaint to stage three.
35. The Council wrote to Mr X in May 2022 and said the missed collection in April was due to the waste contractor’s vehicle breaking down. The Council said it had apologised for the missed collection and had contacted the contractor, who rectified the missed collection on the following day. The Council said there was no stage three to its corporate complaints policy and told Mr X he could refer his complaint to us.
36. Mr X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s actions and brought his complaint to us.
37. Mr X emailed the Council to report a further missed collection in May 2022. Mr X said he was unable to report the issue via its website because the contractor had stated the container was not present for collection. Mr X said this was not true as the bin was placed in the correct agreed position.
38. Mr X reported further missed collections in June 2022. Mr X told the Council that on one occasion, a member of the waste crew had told his partner they had collected his bin when they had not.
39. Mr X reported further missed and partial collections in July and August 2022. Mr X also complained about a further incident of littering around the collection site and of his bin not being returned.

Analysis - Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to collect, empty and return his bins

40. Mr X reported at least nine incidents of missed collections, and additional instances of partial collections or failure to return his bins since September 2021.
41. The Council’s stage two response acknowledged the partial collections in September 2021 and said the waste crews should have ensured all the contents of the bins were emptied. It also upheld Mr X’s complaint regarding the incident in November 2021 when Mr X’s bin was not returned.
42. In its response to our enquiries, the Council said the waste contractor experienced high levels of sickness in January 2022 which impacted the service. It also said the contractor reorganised the waste collection rounds in May 2022 which also led to some missed collections.
43. The Council said the presentation point for Mr X’s bins was another factor which contributed to the issues he experienced. It said Mr X presents his bin at an agreed point, arranged with the former local district council. The Council says the presentation point differs from the expected presentation point on Mr X’s property boundary. The Council says if the crew information is not successfully updated, this can cause a ‘bin not presented’ report.
44. I have reviewed the information provided by Mr X and the Council. Mr X provided photographs of the agreed presentation point to the Council as part of his complaints of missed collections. However, I have seen no evidence the Council told Mr X his bins may be placed in an incorrect location. In addition, in its response to enquiries, the Council refers to the presentation point as an ‘agreed point’. I acknowledge the Council’s comments regarding providing information to the waste collection crews. However, as the waste management contractor is working on behalf of the Council, it is the Council’s responsibility to inform the waste collection crews of the agreed presentation point.
45. The evidence shows several instances of missed or partial collections, and instances where Mr X’s bins were not returned. I acknowledge the Council upheld Mr X’s complaints as part of its stage two investigation, and I agree with the Council’s findings. These incidents of missed and partial collections, together with the further reported incidents, is fault by the Council.

Mr X’s complaint the contractors left litter on his property and wrongly advised him they had emptied his bins

46. I acknowledge Mr X’s comments regarding the above complaint. However, while I have no reason not to believe Mr X and his recollection of what happened, I have seen no evidence to support the complaint the contractors wrongly advised his partner that they had emptied the bins. In addition, although the photographs provided by Mr X show litter which he says was left by the contractors, the photographs do not demonstrate who or what caused the litter to be left around Mr X’s property. I cannot therefore find fault in this aspect of the complaint.
47. However, the information provided shows the Council tasked the waste management contractor with monitoring collections and the standards of the crew as a result of Mr X’s complaint. Although I requested evidence of this monitoring, the Council says it cannot provide this information as it was unable to obtain it. I have therefore seen no evidence to show the Council, or the contractor carried out any monitoring of the waste collection crews as directed.
48. As previously stated, the waste management contractor is working on behalf of the Council; the Council therefore retains responsibility for the service it provides. As part of maintaining an effective and robust administrative process, we would expect the Council to keep records to demonstrate how it monitored the collections and standards of the service crews as part of its investigation of Mr X’s complaint. As the Council is unable to provide this information and is therefore unable to demonstrate if or how it carried out this monitoring, I have found the Council to be at fault.

Mr X’s complaint the Council delayed rectifying the missed collections

49. The Council’s Household Waste Collection policy says, ““We will return to collect genuine reported misses within 1 working day after having logged the missed collection report. Any missed collections reported after this time will not be collected until the next scheduled collection day.”
50. Mr X reported to the Council that the waste management contractor missed a collection on 8 January 2022. The Council’s stage two response acknowledged the contractor did not return to collect Mr X’s bin until 12 January 2022. It upheld Mr X’s complaint as a result.
51. I agree with the findings of the Council’s complaint investigation. The failure to rectify the missed collection in line with the Council’s policy is fault.

Mr X’s complaint the Council incurred delays in the complaint handling process

52. As we had previously investigated a similar complaint by Mr X, the Council escalated this complaint straight to stage two so that Mr X was able to refer the matter to us again sooner if he wished. This is a positive measure taken by the Council.
53. The Council’s complaints policy says at stage two, it aims to provide a written response within 20 working days. However, it also says the Council will let the customer know if it is not able to do this and will provide a new timescale.
54. The Council accepted Mr X’s complaint on 26 November 2021. On 24 December 2021, the Council told Mr X it needed more time to respond and said it hoped to provide a response by 12 January 2022.
55. On 11 January 2022, the Council apologised to Mr X and told him it again needed more time to respond. It said it hoped to provide a response by 26 January 2022. The Council provided its complaint response on 26 January 2022.
56. Although the Council took longer than 20 working days to provide a response, it contacted Mr X during the process to tell him and provided a revised deadline date. The Council provided a response within the timeframe stated to Mr X and apologised for the extended timeframe. On this basis, the Council’s handling of the complaint was in line with its policy and I therefore do not find fault in this aspect of the complaint.

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Agreed action

57. Mr X said the Council’s actions caused avoidable frustration to him. To address the injustice caused to Mr X, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Mr X;
2. Agree in writing with Mr X the collection/return point for his bins and to share this information with the waste collection service crews;
3. Make a payment of £300 to Mr X in recognition of the frustration caused;
4. Remind staff to adhere to the timescales set out in the Council’s household waste collection policy regarding missed collections, and
5. Remind staff that where service users cannot report missed collections online, reports of missed collections made via telephone or email are dealt with in line with the Council’s household waste collection policy.
58. The Council has also agreed to take the following further action:
1. Place Mr X on the assured list for 6 months from the date of the final decision, including requesting service crews to obtain photographic evidence of successful collections during this period, and
2. Review Mr X’s collections after the 6-month period to determine if he should remain on the assured list for a further extended period

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Final decision

59. I have found fault by the Council and the Council has agreed to take the above action to address the injustice to Mr X. I have therefore concluded my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman