Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that he cannot dispose of his household and garden waste at the Council’s recycling centres using his sign written van. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council’s van permit policy means he cannot use his sign written van to dispose of his household and garden waste at the Council’s household waste recycling centres.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council that due to its van permit policy he is unable to use his sign written van to dispose of his household and garden waste at its household waste recycling centres. Mr X says the van is his only vehicle.
8. The Council explained it introduced a van permit scheme to tackle ongoing abuse of its household waste recycling centre facilities by commercial firms and businesses who used it to dispose of their commercial waste at public expense. Also, to decrease queuing times and improve site safety.
9. Under the permit scheme residents with vans need to apply for a permit to access the recycling centre sites. The van must be privately registered to a Council resident and the van must comply with the vehicle restrictions policy. The policy states that permits will not be issued to sign written vans. The Council explained that in line with its policy Mr X’s van was not eligible for a permit. It signposted him to a number of alternative options available to him to dispose of his household waste.
10. Whilst I acknowledge Mr X is unhappy he cannot use his only vehicle to dispose of his household and garden waste, there is no sign of fault by the Council here. It is a matter for the Council to decide how best to manage access to its recycling centre sites. It has a clear, published policy in place and it has decided Mr X’s van permit application in line with that policy. Sign written vans do not qualify for a permit. We are not an appeal body and it is not our role to say the Council should have a policy in place which would better suit Mr X’s circumstances. The Council has signposted Mr X to other waste disposal options locally and there is nothing further we could add to the response the Council has already provided.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman