Summary: Mrs C complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her household waste and recycling despite being registered for an assisted collection which caused her avoidable frustration and distress. We found the Council at fault but consider the agreed action of an apology, symbolic payment and period of monitoring provides a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs C, complains the Council is repeatedly failing to collect her household waste and recycling, despite being registered for an assisted collection. Mrs C also says the Council failed to respond to her complaint despite the Ombudsman asking the Council to investigate. Mrs C also complains the crews do not always close her gate properly which has caused damage.
2. Mrs C says because of the Council’s fault she is suffering avoidable frustration and distress and has had to replace her damaged gate.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I read the papers provided by Mrs C and discussed the complaint with her. I have also considered information from the Council. I have explained my draft decision to Mrs C and the Council and provided an opportunity for comment.
7. The Ombudsman investigated a previous complaint from Mrs C about the same issue during 2021. We ended our involvement in September 2021. Mrs C made a new complaint to the Ombudsman in September 2023. I have exercised the discretion available to me to investigate events from September 2022 to March 2024.

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What I found

Background and legislation

8. 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.
9. Councils normally expect people to move their bins to the pavement in front of their property, to allow it to be easily collected. However, a council may decide to provide an assisted collection to a person if they are unable to move their bins because of a disability. Under an assisted collection, the crew will enter the person’s property, such as their garden or driveway, to collect the bins, and then return them to their storage place afterwards.

What happened

10. The Council provides an assisted collection to Mrs C. This means its waste and recycling teams should collect the bin(s) from the agreed collection point at Mrs C’s property and return them after emptying to the same place.
11. Mrs C complained to the Ombudsman towards the end of September 2023 about continued missed collections at her property.
12. The Ombudsman wrote to the Council on 28 September with a copy of Mrs C’s complaint and asked for it to be put through the Council’s complaint procedure. The Council provided the Ombudsman with an update about missed collections on 17 October.
13. We chased the outcome of the Council’s complaint procedure on 26 January 2024. The Council responded on 2 February with further information about missed collections. We acknowledged this information on 5 February but asked again if the matter had now completed the Council’s complaint procedure.
14. The Council wrongly advised the Ombudsman on 9 February that it had not received a formal complaint from Mrs C.
15. The Council has accepted it failed to put the matter through its complaint procedure as requested by the Ombudsman. This is fault and will have caused Mrs C avoidable time and trouble in resubmitting her complaint to the Ombudsman.
16. The Council has apologised to the Ombudsman for failing to put the matter through its complaint procedure as requested and confirmed it had taken action to avoid a recurrence of this issue through the provision of staff training. The Ombudsman would welcome this action.
17. The Council has provided details of the collection schedule at Mrs C’s property and confirmed missed assisted collections for both waste and recycling in February, March, June and September 2023 and February 2024.
18. I am satisfied there have been repeated failures to complete the assisted collection at Mrs C’s property which will have caused her avoidable inconvenience and frustration.
19. The Council says it has experienced workforce challenges which led to the missed assisted collections for Mrs C. This included an over reliance on agency staff which has result in inconsistencies of staff on the routes. The Council has confirmed it has recently recruited to the vacant positions so the routes have regular employees who can learn the routes. The Council is also scheduled to introduce a new in-cab system in June. It is hoped that these actions should reduce this type of issue.
20. The Council says it has not received a report of damage to Mrs C’s gate but will remind crews to check they have properly closed the gate. Mrs C would need to pursue this matter through the Council’s insurers if she wished to pursue a claim for damage.

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Agreed action

21. The Council has agreed to take the following action to provide a suitable remedy within one month of my final decision:
1. write to Mrs C to apologise for the repeated failure to collect her household waste and recycling despite being registered for an assisted collection; and
2. pay Mrs C £300 for both her avoidable inconvenience and frustration from the missed waste and recycling collections and for her time and trouble in having to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.
22. The Council should also:
1. complete a further period of monitoring of the assisted collections at Mrs C’s property for a period of three months following my final decision; and
2. produce a report to be sent to the Ombudsman within two weeks of the outcome of the monitoring which should include dated photographic evidence of each assisted collection being made with the bins returned and the gate closed.
23. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

24. 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