Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed bin collections and an associated lack of communication by the Council. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The service has improved and, on balance, there is not enough residual injustice to warrant the Ombudsman pursuing the matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, says the Council failed to provide accurate service updates (via social media, phone calls, its website, or councillors) when bins were not emptied over a period of almost seven weeks. She also says the Council’s subsequent complaint responses did not address her concerns about the poor communication, and did not adhere to its complaints policy.
2. Mrs X says it was incredibly frustrating to have three bins left outside every house on her street as they took up limited parking spaces. She also spent time and effort on seeking service updates with no response, and on chasing answers during the associated complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman can investigate 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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X, and our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. We only look at the most serious. To decide which complaints to investigate we consider various tests. This includes the injustice caused to the person complaining.
6. From the information provided by Mrs X, it appears there was a lack of accurate communication by the Council during the period of disruption, and I acknowledge she spent time and effort on seeking service updates and on pursuing her subsequent complaint.
7. However, I understand the service has returned to normal. On balance, I find the extent of any residual injustice to Mrs X as a result of the faults by the Council is not so significant as to justify the Ombudsman pursuing the matter further.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the injustice is not significant enough to warrant us pursuing the matter further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman