Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed garden waste collections because the Council has provided an appropriate remedy and because part of the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about missed garden waste collections since 2019. Ms X wants to know the Council will collect the waste every two weeks.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the Council has offered a fair and proportionate remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and an update from the Council about the current position. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Ms X moved into her home in September 2019 and subscribed to the garden waste service. Ms X complained about repeated garden waste collections.
6. The Council upheld her complaint in June 2020. It apologised for the missed collections, explained the steps it was taking to resolve the problem and paid £85 compensation. This covered the cost of the subscription for that year. The Council signposted Ms X to us in June 2020. Ms X accepted the compensation and did not complain to us in 2020.
7. Ms X complained to the Council in 2022 because she had a missed collection in November 2021 and in July 2022. Ms X says she did not use the service during the winter and, for a time, was leaving the bin at an inconvenient location. But, when she moved the bin to her preferred collection point, it was again missed.
8. The Council apologised. It arranged for a supervisor to accompany the crew on all collections. This will continue until the supervisor is confident the crew know where to collect the waste from. The Council says Ms X has not reported any further missed collections. The Council offered Ms X £70 compensation. This covers the cost of the current subscription of £72. The Council says Ms X has not accepted the £70.
9. Ms X wants us to investigate the problems she has been having since 2019. She is sure the missed collections will resume next spring and thinks there would have been more missed collections if she had used the service over the winter or had not used a different collection point.
10. I will not investigate events since 2019 because it is a late complaint. Ms X could have contacted us in 2020 if she was dissatisfied with the Council’s response to the problems she had had since 2019. In addition, there were no further missed collections until late 2021.
11. I will not investigate the current problems because the Council has provided an appropriate response. It has offered £70 which is more than we would request for two missed collections. In addition, it is taking steps to ensure the service improves by arranging for a supervisor to accompany the crew until the supervisor is confident there will be a consistent service. There is nothing more we would ask the Council to do.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided an appropriate remedy and because part of the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman