Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s bin collection service. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council failed to collect her bins and that it has made things up in relation to her case.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X complained to the Council about matters relating to her bin collection. Due to her disability Ms X used to receive an assisted bin collection service. However, as she now lives with able-bodied family members who can put the bin out, this service is not available to her. The Council has told her she can reapply for the service if her situation changes.
6. The Council says it received reports of three missed bin collections following the cessation of the assisted bin collections in December 2022 and that it has received no further reports since it responded to Ms X about the matter.
7. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and while Ms X may not have received the outcome she was seeking for her complaint to the Council, there is no evidence to suggest fault which warrants investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman