Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s waste collection service. The Council acknowledged fault with the service, which service had since improved and which it continued to monitor. We found the service now provided did not cause Mr X significant injustice that needed any additional action from the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about continuing problems with the Council’s waste collection service to his home. Mr X said he had repeatedly reported bin lids left open after emptying and bins not returned to their collection point. Mr X said, in wet weather, if lids were left open rainwater pooled in the bottom of the bins. And not returning bins correctly could obstruct access to his home, which might prevent mail deliveries and or present a trip hazard. Mr X wanted the Council to close the bin lids and return his bins to the position from which they were collected. Mr X also sought compensation for the annoyance, time and trouble caused by the continuing problems.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I:

• considered Mr X’s written complaint, supporting papers and photographs;
• talked to Mr X about the complaint; and
• shared a draft of this statement with Mr X and the Council and considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

5. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. The collections do not have to be weekly, and councils can decide what bins or boxes people must use. Councils may also tell their residents where they must place their bins or boxes, and when, for collection. Councils will provide an assisted waste collection service for people needing help to move their bins, for example, if they are wheelchair users.
6. The Council contracts out its waste recycling service to a company and the current contract started in 2017. The company collects five different types of household waste from four separate bins and a caddy. Each week there is a collection of food waste from the caddy. And every two weeks two of the bins are emptied. For Mr X this means one week both his waste for landfill and recyclable paper waste is collected and the following week his garden waste and recyclable waste (excluding paper). Although the Council contracts out its waste services, it holds ultimate responsibility for ensuring the quality of the service and is accountable if things go wrong.

What happened

7. A private path leads from the end of a cul de sac and provides access to peoples’ homes. Each property alongside the path has a gate on its boundary with the path. The path ends alongside Mr X’s home. Mr X stores his bins on the path, which is just wide enough for two bins to be placed side by side. The bins, in two rows of two, are stored between Mr X’s gate and the end of the path. When one row of bins is placed against the fence at the end of the path and the next row is placed immediately adjacent to the first row, the bins stand clear of Mr X’s gate. Mr X also stores his food waste caddy on the path close to his bins and opposite his gate. Mr X arranges his bins so those due to be emptied in any given week are in the ‘front row’. Mr X was not aware of any defect with the hinges and or lids of his bins and caddy.
8. Mr X said he had never received any written notice from the Council about placement of his bins and he was not in need, or receipt, of an assisted service. Mr X said the Council had simply collected the bins (and caddy) from, and returned them emptied to, the end of the path. And before 2021, when the service deteriorated, he had had no problems with the Council’s waste collection service. However, he started to report various problems in 2021 and, after about six months, formally complained to the Council. The main issues reported by Mr X were that, after emptying:

• the bin and caddy lids were sometimes left open and would collect rainwater in wet weather;
• the caddy was sometimes left on its side, which could attract foxes;
• the caddy was not always returned to its original position, which could present a trip hazard on the path; and
• the bins were not always returned to their original positions but left at the end of the cul de sac or along the path partially or fully obstructing access to his home.

9. The Council accepted there had been problems with the service and apologised to Mr X and offered him £50 in recognition of the time and trouble he had been put to. The Council also said it would instruct the collection crews about where to return emptied bins and monitor the service. Mr X was not satisfied with the outcome and, having completed the Council’s complaints procedure, brought his complaint to the Ombudsman. In August 2022, we found further investigation was unlikely to usefully add to or significantly change the Council’s findings and decided not to pursue the complaint.
10. In October 2022, having again reported bins left with their lids open and blocking his access, Mr X took his complaint back to the Council. Mr X said the service had not improved and all he wanted was for the Council to empty his bins, close their lids, and return them “precisely” to the point from which they were taken. The Council said it was sorry problems persisted with the service and suggested Mr X return to the Ombudsman, which he did.

Consideration

11. Mr X was understandably annoyed the standard of his current waste collection service did not match that he received before 2021. I had to consider whether there was evidence of fault in the delivery of the Council’s waste collection service. That the Council could have done more and or might have acted differently did not necessarily mean what it did fell below acceptable administrative standards. And, if the Council was at fault, it did not necessarily mean that fault caused Mr X significant injustice that I ought now seek to remedy.
12. I considered Mr X’s emails to the Council that detailed his concerns about the waste collection service from January 2022 to 28 January 2023. I focussed on the emails Mr X sent the Council after our August 2022 decision on his previous complaint (see paragraph 9).
13. The emails showed that during October 2022 Mr X reported his front row of bins being moved (see paragraph 7). It appeared the collection crews were checking if back row bins due for collection needed emptying. These October incidents resulted in front row bins being left partially in front of Mr X’s gate and a lid left open on a back row bin. Mr X told the Council if a bin needed emptying on the appointed collection day, he placed it on the front row so it was accessible to the collection crews. I saw no evidence to suggest that after October 2022 collection crews continued to check if back row bins needed emptying. I therefore found these events an isolated issue.
14. Aside from the October 2022 bin moving incidents, the emails between mid-August 2022 and the end of January 2023 showed Mr X reported:

• a recycling bin left in the “wrong place”;
• five issues with his food waste caddy, namely, its lid was left open twice, and on three separate occasions, it was left on its side, left along the path, and left in front of his gate;
• five issues with his landfill bin, namely, it was left four times fully or partially obstructing his gate, including once with the lid open, and on a separate occasion the lid was left open; and
• five issues with his garden bin, namely, it was left at the end of the cul de sac either fully or partially obstructing the path and on two of these occasions the lid was left open.

15. The emails therefore showed Mr X had reported bin and caddy lids left open on six occasions. Mr X was not aware of any defect in his bin and or caddy hinges and lids. And it is generally more cumbersome to move a wheeled bin with its lid open. So, there appeared to be no underlying explanation for why the incidents took place. I recognised Mr X’s annoyance at finding any lid left open after emptying, particularly on the day when it rained. However, I did not find the scale and frequency of the bin lid issue caused significant injustice that required further action from the Council beyond its current service monitoring.
16. Mr X was also concerned about the return of his emptied bins and caddy. Mr X had repeatedly sent the Council photographs showing where and how his bins were kept on the path. Mr X had emphasised the need for the Council to replace the emptied bins “precisely” from where they were collected. I recognised Mr X’s frustration because his bins and caddy were not always replaced exactly where they were collected from, especially when this was not a problem before 2021. However, most councils require residents to place their bins next to the nearest public road for collection. And, once emptied, the bins are usually left on the pavement near residents’ homes, sometimes temporarily interfering with access and or hindering people using the pavement. Accordingly, councils usually require residents to collect their bins as soon as possible after emptying and move them back within their own properties.
17. Here, Mr X did not recall any written notice or arrangements with the Council about the placement of his bins for collection. And the Council had used the path both to collect Mr X’s bins, bringing them to the collection vehicle in the cul de sac for emptying, and then returning them to the path near his home. However, I did not find there was fault causing significant injustice because the emptied garden waste bin sometimes was left on the cul de sac near the path for Mr X to collect and return to his storage area.
18. Aside from the garden waste bin, since mid-August 2022, the collection crews had returned the bins and caddy to or close to Mr X’s “precise” storage point on the path. Mr X reports a problem when a bin is not pushed fully back beyond his gate and or when his caddy is not left against the wall opposite his gate. I did not find any inexact positioning of the emptied bins and caddy caused significant injustice requiring added action from the Council.
19. The Council upheld Mr X’s original complaint and apologised, offered financial redress and started to monitor the waste collection service he received. And, overall, the service had improved since Mr X first complained. Indeed, until an incident in late January 2023, Mr X had not emailed the Council concerned about the emptying of his two recycling bins since August 2022. I had no reason to doubt the Council would continue to follow up any reports made by Mr X about problems with his bins to ensure the service he currently received was maintained if not further improved. I recognised Mr X found the current service unsatisfactory, particularly when compared to that provided before 2021. However, I did not find the issues raised by Mr X, either individually or cumulatively, resulted in significant injustice to merit my recommending the Council take any specific additional action.

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Final decision

20. The Council acknowledged fault in its waste collection service, which service had since improved and which it continued to monitor. However, I did not find the service provided caused Mr X significant injustice that needed any additional action from the Council. I therefore completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman