Summary: Mrs X says the Council has failed to collect and return her bins in line with the agreement it made for assisted collections. Mrs X also says the Council have threatened to remove her assisted collection. Mrs X explains this has caused her distress. We have found fault with the Council for missing collections and with its complaint handling. However, the Council has already apologised which is a reasonable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council has failed to collect and return her bins in line with the agreement it made for assisted collections. Mrs X also says the Council has threatened to remove her assisted collection.

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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 have considered the information provided by Mrs X and have discussed the complaint with her. I have also considered the Councils comments and supporting information provided.
5. Both Mrs X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. Any information provided has been considered before a final decision was issued.

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What I found

6. 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.
7. The Council provides an assisted bin collection service for residents whose disability or illness prevents them from taking their bins to the kerbside, and who have nobody in their household who can do this.
8. The Council’s Waste Management Group Assisted Collection Policy says that assisted collections will be renewed every two years and renewal applications are automatically distributed to all residents that receive the assisted collection service.

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What happened

9. The Council added Mrs X to its assisted collections list in 2021, prior to this her and neighbouring properties all had assisted collection.
10. Mrs X reported missed collections to the Council twice in July 2023 and twice in August 2023. One of these occasions Mrs X reported the crew had contaminated her bin. The Council responded to the missed collections by re-attending.
11. Mrs X complained to the Council in September 2023.
12. Mrs X and the Council agreed in September 2023 it would collect her recycling bin from the front of her due to access issues through a locked gate. Mrs X says this is a different approach to her other neighbours.
13. Mrs X continued to raise the issue with the Council and received a final response in December 2023 following the Ombudsman contacting the Council. In the final response, the Council says there were missed bin collections. It also said there had been difficulties accessing the rear of Mrs X’s property due to access being required through a neighbouring gate which was not always unlocked on the day of the recycling collections. The Council suggested collection of Mrs X’s recycling bins from the front of the property to improve collection rates.
14. The Council say Mrs X had been discussing her compliant with its officers prior to the response which was issued in December.
15. The Council also told Mrs X it would review her assisted bin collection again in 2024 following the most recent review in 2023.

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Analysis

Assisted collections

16. The Council say there were missed collections which is fault. As part of its response to Mrs X’s complaint the Council has apologised for the missed collections.
17. I understand following the change of collection location, recycling collections are now made more consistently.
18. I appreciate this may be a different collection location to Mrs X’s neighbours. However, the Council’s explanation for suggesting that location does not seem unreasonable.
19. The action taken by the Council has helped to improve the collection rates. The missed collections were not the sole fault of the Council. It was not able to access the bins to collect them and took action to try to resolve the issue. As such, the apology the Council offered is a reasonable remedy to this.
20. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s assisted collection in 2023 following her being added to the assisted collection list. This is in line with the process provided by the Council.
21. In its final response to the complaint the Council said it would review Mrs X’s assisted collection again in 2024. The Council’s policy says it will review assisted collections every two years, so whilst the new review is sooner than to be expected, it is a reasonable approach for the Council to take given the ongoing issues Mrs X has had.

Complaint handling

22. Mrs X raised a complaint with the Council in September 2023 and a response was issued just over two weeks later.
23. Mrs X says she then tried to escalate the complaint further but did not receive a written response until December 2023 after she had contacted the Ombudsman. A further response was issued in February 2024 by the Council. This was fault by the Council in delaying a response to Mrs X. The Council apologised for this which is a reasonable remedy.

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Agreed action

24. While I have found fault in the actions of the Council, it has already provided a reasonable remedy to Mrs X by apologising and therefore, no further remedy is necessary.

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Final decision

25. I have found fault in the actions of the Council for failing to collect Mrs X’s rubbish and for delaying in responding to her complaint.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman