Summary: Miss X complained the Council repeatedly missed recycling and food waste collections from her property causing avoidable frustration and inconvenience. We have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action of a symbolic payment, further monitoring and review of its arrangements to manage contractual compliance provides a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complains the Council has still repeatedly missed recycling and food waste collections from her property despite it monitoring the situation for a period. Miss X says because of the Council’s fault she suffers avoidable frustration and inconvenience.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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 read the papers provided by Miss X and discussed the complaint with her. I have also considered the Council’s response to my enquiries. I have explained my draft decision to Miss X and the Council and provided an opportunity for comment.

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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 the type of bins or boxes people must use.
6. Many councils use a contractor to provide their waste and recycling services on their behalf. In such cases the council retains responsibility for ensuring the quality of the service and is accountable if things go wrong.

Key events

7. The current collection schedule for Miss X’s property includes a weekly kerbside collection for recycling and food waste on a Monday. Miss X says she has experienced repeated missed collections for her recycling and food waste since she moved into her property in November 2021.
8. Residents must report a missed collection between 5pm on the day of the missed collection and 5pm the next working day. Containers should be left in the normal place and will be collected within two working days.
9. The Council has provided details of the reported missed recycling and food waste collections for Miss X’s property for the period November 2021 to June 2023. This shows a significant level of missed collections over the entire period.
10. There is a message from Miss X in March 2022 to say she was no longer reporting every missed collection due to the frequency and was only doing so when her containers were full.
11. There is a note on the Council’s system in July that because Miss X’s property is a corner property there were separate refuse and recycling crews and collections were being missed as a result.
12. Miss X highlighted again in September that she was experiencing multiple missed collections and the Council’s own record confirms there had been reports of missed collections almost every week. There is a further record in June 2023 of ongoing issues of missed collections at Miss X’s property.
13. The Council says the problem with collections from Miss X’s property has been exacerbated by it being on the cusp of two different collection crew rounds and several changes to the crews covering these areas. The Council says the crews should have used their system to identify which properties they were responsible for but failed to do so which led to the continued missed collections. The Council asked its waste company to place the property on what it describes as a hotspot list for a period to ensure collections were made but accepts this did not resolve the issue.
14. The Council says the waste company has provided photographs of recent collections to show the matter is now resolved and has received feedback about ensuring the proper use of the system to ensure matters do not reoccur.

My consideration

15. It is clear from the information provided that there have been repeated missed collections affecting Miss X’s property from November 2021. Councils cannot guarantee there will never be a missed collection and it may not be realistic for people to expect this. However, I consider the systemic issues affecting Miss X’s property when taken together constitute fault.
16. I have taken into account that the Council has apologised to Miss X and taken some action in response to her reports to try and improve matters. However, I consider the Council should take further action to provide a remedy for Miss X’s avoidable inconvenience in repeatedly reporting issues and her increasing frustration when the issues reoccurred and to ensure further issues are addressed.

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Agreed action

17. The Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. make a symbolic payment to Miss X of £200 to recognise her avoidable inconvenience and frustration within one month of my final decision;
2. ensure effective monitoring of all the collections from Miss X’s property for two months following my final decision (this should include dated evidence of the collection of the containers for each collection) to ensure service improvements are fully embedded;
3. report the findings to Miss X and the Ombudsman within one month of the completion of the above monitoring; and
4. review its contract arrangements and how compliance is monitored to ensure systemic issues are picked up and addressed at an earlier stage within three months of my final decision.
18. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

19. I have completed my investigation as I have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action above provides a suitable remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman