Summary: Mr X complained the Council has repeatedly failed to collect the communal domestic waste on the scheduled days. The Council’s repeated failure to collect the communal waste on the scheduled days is fault. This caused Mr X frustration and put him to the time and trouble of complaining. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has repeatedly failed to collect waste from his block of flats on the scheduled days or in a timely manner when collections are missed. He says this has led to a build-up of waste which he says is unhygienic, smells and attracts vermin.
2. Mr X says that despite repeatedly reporting the missed collections and making complaints, the problem has continued, and he feels ignored. He says he would like a regular and sustained refuse collection service, that adheres to the Council’s policy.

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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 a council’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 have considered all the information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I have considered Mr X’s and the Council’s comments before making this final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

8. 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.

The Council’s Practice

9. The Council's practice is to make a twice weekly residual waste collections and a once weekly recycling collection to Mr X’s address.
10. The Council’s website says collections maybe delayed for up to a day, it asks people to wait 24 hours before reporting a missed collection.

What happened

11. Mr X lives in a communal block of flats with a shared refuse chute serving the residents. The collected rubbish is stored in skips. The Council website says it will make two refuse collections a week on scheduled days.
12. Mr X complained to the Council in March 2022. He said the Council continually failed to collect communal waste on the assigned days, causing him to complain on several occasions. He specifically noted on this occasion:

• The Council had failed to collect any refuse for over five days and had missed two collections.
• There were now eight skips full of rubbish awaiting collection.
• The communal rubbish chute, serving residents in the flats was now shut and filled with rotting rubbish creating unhygienic conditions and creating unpleasant smells.
• The uncollected rubbish contained in the skips was attracting vermin and posed a fire risk.

13. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint under Stage One of its corporate complaints policy. It:

• Apologised for several missed collections.
• Said it would be monitoring collections to ensure the same problem did not occur.
• Said experienced staff had not been available which had caused upheaval to the service.
• Said it had to use temporary staff without local knowledge.
• Had met with the management agent of the block of flats, had seen the bin store and was assured bins were out of the store on collection days.

14. Mr X remained dissatisfied and said despite the Council’s reassurances there were continued missed refuse collections on the scheduled days. He asked for the complaint to be escalated to Stage Two.
15. The Council replied in May 2022. It again apologised for the disruption and recognised it had missed two refuse collections in March 2022. It said it had spoken with the managing agent and refuse staff to ensure refuse collections adhere to the schedule. It said it told staff that if the collection is missed it is to be collected the following day in line with the Council’s waste collection policy. It reiterated many of the points from its Stage One response, but also said there had been a technical error with the case management system resulting in numerous missed collection reports disappearing.
16. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in August 2022.
17. The Council responded to enquiries and said Mr X had reported four incidents of missed or delayed collections on the scheduled day over a six-month period. Mr X says the Council also missed collections on a further six occasions in February, March, and August 2022. The Council’s notes show on one occasion it had taken over ten days to collect the refuse. However, its notes show on the other three occasions it collected the refuse within a day or two of missing the collection.
18. It also noted there had been staffing issues over the summer period due to a shortage of drivers and periods of staff annual leave.

Analysis

19. It is clear from the Council’s responses that it has failed on many occasions to collect the waste from Mr X’s flats on the scheduled days. This is fault.
20. The Council said Mr X reported four missed collections over a six-month period. I am also aware Mr X says there were further missed collections that occurred in February, March, and August 2022. I recognise that while the Council missed the collections on the scheduled days, it did, on most occasions collect it within one day in line with its procedures. It also apologised to Mr X, conducted a site visit, and spoke with the operations manager and staff to remind them of the need to adhere to the Council waste collection policy. This is what I would have recommended. However, despite the Council’s assurances it had reminded staff that regular scheduled collections would be made, its notes show that on occasions it failed to collect the refuse on scheduled days. This was further fault, causing Mr X frustration which put him to the time and trouble of complaining. The Council has agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice it caused to Mr X.

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Agreed action

21. By the 15 December 2022 the Council will:

• Apologise to Mr X for missed collections.
• Pay Mr X £100 in recognition of the frustration caused and putting him to the time and trouble of complaining.
• Monitor the collection of refuse from Mr X’s address for ten weeks to see if the problem is continuing and provide a report to the Ombudsman at the end of that period.

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Final decision

22. I have found fault with the Council for missed or delayed refuse collections. This caused Mr X an injustice and the Council has agreed to remedy this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman