Summary: Mr X complains the Council continues to not properly collect residential waste, which piles up outside his property and impacts his ability to enjoy his property. We find no fault in how the Council decided which action to take or how it managed the issue of removing waste.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:

• refuse to collect waste and continually leave waste behind on collection days.
• fail to ensure it collects waste properly and leaves areas tidy.
• failed to properly address the issue and dismissed Mr X’s complaint.

2. Mr X says this impacts his ability to enjoy his property and keep his family safe.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. 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

6. I considered Mr X’s complaint and information he provided. I also considered information from the Council.
7. I invited Mr X and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

Councils refuse and recycling policy

8. The Council’s policy is that it will collect recycling which is placed into pink refuse sacks. The Council provides the pink refuse sacks, each household is given four rolls of sacks between December to October each year, and residents can order two further rolls if they run low.
9. The Council also runs a garden waste collection service for which residents must use green refuse bags for the waste.
10. The Council says it will collect household waste in any rubbish bag, if it is not in the green or pink refuse sacks. Residents are to place general waste outside their properties, on the ground, by 7.30am on the day of collection.
11. The Council says that residents can report online when there is a missed waste collection, and it will do its best to have the waste collected.

What happened

12. Mr X lives in a residential area where household rubbish and recycling must be placed in a community area to be collected.
13. Mr X says the Council has refused to collect waste because other residents have used the wrong rubbish bags. On other occasions, the Council has not collected all the waste in the area. This leads to a waste pile that isn’t removed, which animals then spread over the street.
14. Mr X says the Councils method of asking everyone to put their waste in one area means the Council does not penalise those who do not use the pink sacks. This is because it is not clear who the waste belongs to. Mr X says this means the waste causes disruption to the others in the street.
15. An enforcement officer from the Council contacted Mr X to discuss the waste. Mr X reported continuing waste to the enforcement officer, who then arranged to clear the waste.
16. Mr X complained to the Council in March 2023. He said the Council had failed to collect waste for three weeks.
17. In the Councils response to Mr X’s complaint, it upheld it did not collect all the waste. It apologised and said the enforcement officer had arranged for the waste to be cleared.
18. Mr X remained unhappy and bought his complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

19. In response to my enquiries, the Council said there was a continuing issue with residents in Mr X’s road using pink sacks to dispose of general waste.
20. When Mr X made his complaint to the Council about the missed waste collections, the Council recognised the waste needed to be collected and arranged for this to take place.
21. The Councils has records of waste collection and discussions with Mr X and historical reports of waste by Mr X. The records also show the Council accepts there is an issue with residents incorrectly bagging and disposing of rubbish of in Mr X’s local area.
22. This is furthered by the Council upholding Mr X’s complaint about uncollected waste.
23. I have reviewed the messages between Mr X and the Council. From the messages I can see when Mr X reported waste to the officer, the officer tried to clear the waste. There were several occasions where this happened.
24. The Council’s policy for refuse and recycling is on its website for residents to access. The Council provides the pink recycling sacks to residents for free. It will collect general waste in any other bag other than the gardening or recycling sacks. In Mr X’s case, residents have been using the recycling sacks for general waste and dumping large items in the communal area. This makes the waste contaminated and not eligible for collection by the Council. Therefore, there are occasions where the Council has not collected the contaminated waste, as per its policy.
25. As the Council has recognised there is an ongoing issue, it is the Ombudsman’s role to consider whether the Council has taken reasonable steps to address the problem and followed its own policy.
26. The Council has told us it has used several methods of action so far. These include:

• Posting letters to every household address in the surrounding the service area where Mr X lives on two occasions.
• Speaking to residents where there is suspicion that they have been placing rubbish out early or without authorisation.
• Placing CCTV signs on a lamppost, which are still in place.
• Continuing contact with Mr X about enforcement and keeping the area clean.

27. I can see the Council enforcement officer has remained in contact with Mr X and where Mr X reports waste, the officer has tried to address this.
28. The Council has recognised a there is a problem and has put actions in place to try and mitigate the issue. The Council has shown it considered the issue, and how it decided to put actions in place. The Council has followed its policy, continues to act on the problem and remains working with Mr X to ensure waste is clear.
29. I find no fault with how the Council has reached the decision on what action to take, and how it has managed the issue of clearing the waste.

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Final decision

30. I have now completed my investigation. I find no fault with the Council for how it reached the decision to act on and manage the collection of waste.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman