Summary: We have not investigated a complaint about the Council’s decision to implement a communal bin collection for the complainant’s street. This is because it is late, something we have investigated previously, and because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision. There is also no evidence of fault in the way the Council is maintaining the site, to minimise its impact on the complainant’s home. The Council was at fault because it did not carry out a consultation with local residents, but we consider it has already adequately remedied the injustice this caused. We have therefore completed our investigation.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainant as Mr P.
2. Mr P complains the Council has decided to implement a communal bin collection for his street, which means the bins are stationed behind his property and causing problems with odour, vermin and fly-tipping. He considers the Council should provide individual bins for each property instead.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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)
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)
6. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. I have investigated the way the Council has managed the collection procedure for the bins, and what it does to tackle the improper dumping of waste near the bins.
8. I have not investigated the Council’s original decision to implement a communal collection for the street, for reasons I will explain later in this decision statement.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I reviewed Mr P’s correspondence with the Council, and sought the Council’s comments on relevant parts of the complaint.
10. I also shared a draft copy of this decision with each party for their comments.

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What I found

11. Mr P’s home is near the end of a terrace of properties, behind which runs an alleyway. In 2012, the Council decided to implement a communal bin collection for the houses in the terrace, meaning residents are required to deposit their general waste and recycling into large bins stationed permanently at the end of the alleyway, near Mr P’s property.
12. In June 2021, Mr P submitted a stage 1 complaint to the Council. He said he had been complaining continually since 2012 to the Council about its decision to switch to a communal collection. Mr P complained the bins were not well maintained, that residents often left waste on the floor, attracting vermin, and that the bins created a foul odour which meant he could not use his back yard.
13. Mr P said he believed every resident had the right to have an individual bin. He said, after complaining in 2012, the Council had agreed to move two of the four bins away from his property. However, it now appeared the Council was preparing to add more bins.
14. The Council responded to explain it had recently inspected the site, and decided to make some changes and ‘upgrade’ the recycling bins. It asked Mr P to report any issues with disrepair. It also explained, for ease of use, it had now decided to place one general waste and one recycling bin at each end of the alleyway, rather than having general waste bins at one end and recycling at the other.
15. The Council said it emptied the bins several times per week, and cleaned up around them once per week. It asked Mr P to report if the site was not cleaned, or if there was any fly-tipping, and said it would then investigate. It said it was not true that residents were entitled to individual bins, and that this was a decision for the Council, but said an officer would contact residents to consult about changing to individual bins.
16. Mr P made a stage 2 complaint in March 2022. He disputed the Council was maintaining the site to a good standard, and that the recent change to the layout was causing more problems. Mr P disputed the area was being swept and cleaned weekly, as the Council said, and reiterated this was causing pest and hygiene problems. Mr P also said there had been no visit by a council officer, as had been promised in June.
17. The Council responded to confirm it was satisfied with its contractor’s performance in maintaining the site, and said there was no evidence to support Mr P’s claim the site was not being swept and cleaned. It explained due to an increase in demand it had needed to place a new general waste bin on the site.
18. The Council acknowledged an officer had not visited, as promised, and apologised for this. It confirmed it was now making arrangements for officers to visit. However, it said it could not agree to remove the bins, as Mr P had requested.
19. In July 2023, Mr P submitted another stage 1 complaint to the Council, covering similar points to those in his previous complaints. In August, the Council responded to say it could not add to its previous responses and would not accept this as a new complaint.
20. Mr P then approached the Ombudsman in August.

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Legislative background

Household waste and recycling collections

21. 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.

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Analysis

22. The core of Mr P’s complaint is the Council’s decision, in 2012, to change to a communal bin collection for his street, and its refusal to return to individual bins.
23. I have not investigated this point for several reasons. First, the law says a person should approach the Ombudsman within 12 months of becoming aware of the issue they wish to complain about. By Mr P’s own statement, he has been complaining to the Council about this issue since 2012, and so it is very considerably out of time for an investigation by the Ombudsman.
24. Second, I am also aware Mr P made a complaint to the Ombudsman on this subject in 2016. We delete all our case records after five years and so I do not know what decision we made on that complaint; but either way, we will not entertain a repeat complaint on the same matter.
25. And third, even putting these points to one side, it is for the Council to decide which type of container it will use to collect waste from a particular location, and where exactly it will collect the container from. We are not an appeal body, and we cannot overturn or criticise council decisions where there is no evidence of administrative fault in how they were made.
26. While I understand Mr P’s objection to the type and siting of the bins in this case, the Council has explained the reasons for its decision, and there is no reason to believe we might find fault in how it made this decision. It would therefore not be appropriate for us to start an investigation into it, even if the other considerations I have noted did not apply.
27. Instead I have focused my investigation on Mr P’s complaints about the way the Council is managing the site.
28. I must note here that this aspect of Mr P’s complaint is also late. His complaints to the Council were in June 2021 and March 2022 – and, in response to the latter, the Council signposted him to us – but he did not approach the Ombudsman until August 2023.
29. However, the law does permit us some flexibility around this rule, and we can decide to disapply it where a person has a good reason for their delay in approaching us, and where we are satisfied it is still possible to carry out a robust investigation. Mr P has explained that he suffers from an illness which affects his memory, and because of this he neglected to make his complaint to us at the proper time. I accept this is a good reason.
30. And, as this matter is relatively straightforward, and ongoing, I consider it is still possible to investigate it thoroughly. I will therefore exercise discretion to accept this aspect of Mr P’s complaint out of time.
31. To this end, I asked the Council to provide more details about its collection and cleaning schedule, and what it was doing to prevent fly-tipping on the site.
32. The Council explained it empties the general waste bin three times each week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday, and empties the recycling bin on alternate Fridays. The crew removes any side waste (waste placed next to the bins) as part of this process. The crew sweeps and cleans the site once per week, usually on a Friday, and there is also a clean of the entire alleyway once every 12 weeks.
33. The Council said it generally relies on residents or council officers to report instances of fly-tipping, but when it receives such a report, it will task the contractor to clean it up. It explained that the contractor will always the empty the bins as scheduled, even if they contain fly-tipped or non-recyclable items.
34. The Council also explained it carries out 100 random inspections per month to ensure the contractor is operating to the required standard, and that there is a 97% pass rate for these inspections. It most recently inspected the site behind Mr P’s property in August 2023 and found no issues.
35. I find the Council’s evidence persuasive. I note, in particular, the very high frequency of general waste collections, the policy of removing all waste, including any side waste, as part of these collections, and the weekly clean of the site. I do not consider the Council could practically do more to limit the impact of the bins on Mr P’s property, and so I find no fault in this respect.
36. However, in its stage 1 response, the Council said it would arrange for an officer to visit the area and consult with residents about a possible return to an individual bin collection. In its stage 2 response, the Council accepted it had failed to pass this message on to the appropriate team, and said it would now do so.
37. I asked the Council to update me on this. It said:

“A neighbourhood officer met with the resident in April 2022 and did some education in the area around waste management. The resident then got back in touch a month or so later and was asking for individual bins rather than communal bins at the location. The Neighbourhood Team advised there were no plans to change to individual bins at the location as they bring with them their own issues. They also shared how to report issues using the Council's systems. The resident does not appear to have reported any issues since.”

38. While it is positive an officer visited the area and spoke to Mr P, I note this was not what the Council had originally proposed it would do in June 2021 – that an officer would speak to other residents, not just Mr P, and in the process seek their views on using individual bins.
39. The Council is therefore at fault in two respects here – first, because it did not arrange the visit when it originally said it would, and second because the eventual visit did not actually achieve the purpose the Council proposed it for. I am satisfied this has caused Mr P some frustration, although I note the Council has already apologised for this.
40. I have considered, separately, whether it is appropriate to recommend the Council now carry out the promised consultation. Ultimately though, I am conscious the Council is under no legal obligation to consult with residents about the type of bin collection they receive; and, even if the Council did carry out such a consultation, it would be under no obligation to accept the result. The Council has explained several times to Mr P why it considers a communal bin collection to be the right one for the area, and it appears very unlikely it will change its view on this.
41. Taking these points together, I do not consider it would be appropriate to recommend the Council carry out the consultation.

Conclusions

42. I have not investigated the core point of Mr P’s complaint, which is about the Council’s original decision to implement a communal bin collection for the area. This is because it is out of time, something we have already considered, and because there is no evidence of fault in how the Council made this decision.
43. I am satisfied with the evidence the Council has provided about its collection and cleaning schedule for the site. There is no evidence of fault in this.
44. However, the Council was at fault because it did not arrange for an officer to visit the area when it said it would, and because the visit which eventually took place was not what it had promised Mr P. This caused Mr P some frustration, but I consider the Council has already adequately apologised for this, and I do not consider it appropriate to recommend it now carry out the consultation it originally proposed.

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Final decision

45. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice, but which the Council has already remedied.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman