Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s household waste and recycling centres. Part of the complaint is late and there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not properly consult with residents before deciding to keep a Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) booking system introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. He says the booking system unnecessarily requires the input of his personal data. He also complains about restrictions in place for small vans. He wants the Council to review its decision making and carry out a new public consultation about the booking system.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Part of this complaint is late. The decision to keep the Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) booking system was made in 2021 and if Mr X was dissatisfied with this decision, I can see no good reason why Mr X could not have complained sooner.
7. In any case and even if Mr X had complained sooner, there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council made this decision.
8. The Council ran a public consultation which received over 10,000 responses. It considered the findings in November 2021 and decided to keep the booking system in place. This is the process we would expect and there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify further investigation.
9. Mr X also complains about the restrictions on small vans. The Council is entitled to have an operating policy and put in place restrictions to ensure the fair use of its HWRCs. The HWRC operating policy sets out the restriction on small vans and the policy applies to all users. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating this further.
10. Mr X says the booking system unnecessarily requires him input his personal data into order to book a HWRC slot, which is a breach of his privacy. Details of how and why the Council collects personal data and how long this is retained is set out on the Council’s website. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is best placed to deal with any complaint about data protection and it is open to Mr X to approach the ICO if he chooses to do so.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman