Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to provide suitable facilities for the disposal of pet animal waste. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council should either allow her to have an extra general waste bin to dispose of the excess waste produced by her dog and five cats, or provide facilities for the disposal of such matter at its other waste/recycling sites.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can investigate 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We can 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I appreciate Mrs X thinks the Council should provide more assistance for the disposal of waste produced by her pets. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not overrule Council decisions or tell it how it should operate its services. Rather, we look at whether there was administrative or procedural fault in the way it makes its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot question whether it should have reached a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
7. Local authorities have a duty to collect household waste, but have broad discretion to decide how they meet this duty. Here, the Council provides one grey bin for the disposal of up to 32kg of general waste. An extra bin can be requested where there are six or more people in a household and/or excess waste is produced due to a medical condition. Its public litter bins can also be used, as I understand it, for the disposal of dog waste produced during a dog walk. The Council has also confirmed its recycling centres do not provide bins for animal waste as they are not licensed to do so, nor do they have the legal requirements in place for managing such hazardous waste.
8. The Council has acted in accordance with its policy, so I find there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify starting an investigation. As previously suggested by the Council, Mrs X may wish to contact a private company about the disposal of the excess waste produced by her pets.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman