Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to collect his bins regularly, despite receiving assisted collections. We find the Council at fault for failing to follow the assisted collection agreement and collect Mr X’s waste. We recommend the Council apologise to Mr X, monitor his collections, make a payment to recognise the injustice caused and act to prevent recurrence.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to regularly collect his bins between August and October 2023, despite receiving assisted collections on medical grounds. Mr X says this led to his bins overflowing, which attracted pests and caused a nuisance. He says he injured himself by tripping over waste. Mr X would like the Council to collect his bins as agreed.

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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 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 spoke to Mr X about his complaint and considered information he provided. I also considered information received from the Council.
5. Mr X and the Council now have an opportunity to comment on my decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Councils, as local waste collection authorities, have a duty to collect domestic waste and recycling from households. This is set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Many local authorities provide a weekly collection service but are not required to. Others only empty bins fortnightly.
7. The Council’s Domestic Waste and Recycling Service Standard sets out the bins available in the area, and the frequency of collections:
• Blue bin: paper, card and cartons; emptied every two weeks.
• Brown bin: glass, cans and plastic bottles; emptied every two weeks.
• Green Bin: food waste; emptied every two weeks as a minimum.
• Black bin: any other household waste; emptied every two weeks as a minimum.
8. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who cannot move their bins due to disability or ill health. The Council’s Domestic Waste and Recycling Service Standard sets out the arrangements for assisted collections. This states if the Council registers a person for assisted collections, it will collect and return waste and recycling from an agreed point, instead of the person needing to move their bins.

What happened

9. Mr X says the Council failed to empty his bins regularly. He says that, often, it returned his bins to the wrong place. Mr X says these issues led to a build up of waste which attracted pests and made it difficult for him to navigate his garden path. Mr X says he tripped over the rubbish and injured his shoulder and hand.
10. The Council has confirmed that Mr X is eligible for assisted waste collection, on medical grounds. The agreed collection point for Mr X’s bins was recorded as the front of his property, or his front garden. The Council confirmed that the collection crew would have access to this information.
11. In September 2023 Mr X complained to the Council about the issues he had been having during August and September. In particular, he said the Council was not emptying his grey and green bin. From discussions with Mr X it is clear that his complaints about the grey bin relate to the black bin provided by the Council. For clarity, I will refer to this bin as the ‘grey bin’ as this is how the Council and Mr X have referred to it.
12. The Council investigated Mr X’s complaint, which it upheld, as it found there had been issues with his bin collections. The Council said it had visited Mr X’s property and found he had two grey bins, only one of which had a label. The Council says that Mr X requested only his labelled bins were collected. However, the Council’s policy states that any bins presented at the agreed collection point should be collected, regardless of labelling.
13. Mr X responded to the Council. He said he had concerns it had visited the wrong address, as there was only one grey bin on his property.
14. Mr X contacted the Council several times in September to raise concerns about missed collections.
15. At the end of September, he raised another complaint as he said:
• The Council had not returned his bins to the correct place;

His labelled grey bin was missing, and an unlabelled bin had been left in its place. Although he was using this bin, the crew would not empty it as they had been told to only empty his labelled bin.

16. The Council responded to this complaint in October. It said that because Mr X received assisted collections, the crew would empty his bin even if it was in the wrong place. Based on its investigation, it could see Mr X’s labelled grey bin was consistently being collected, but from outside his neighbour’s house. It was being returned to the same place.
17. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint as it felt the issue was because the bins were at the wrong address. To fix this, it arranged for the bins to be reset on Mr X’s property.
18. Following Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman the Council have confirmed that any bins presented at the agreed collection point should have been collected, even if they were not labelled. It says that the crew should have returned Mr X’s bins to the agreed collection point outside of his property, instead of leaving them outside of his neighbour’s address. To prevent further issues, a member of staff met with Mr X to support him with labelling his bins correctly.

Analysis

19. In its Stage 1 response the Council acknowledged there had been issues with Mr X’s grey and green bin collections in August and September 2023. This is fault. This resulted in confusion and missed collections, which is injustice.
20. Mr X says he continued to experience issues following his complaint. The Council says Mr X’s labelled bin was emptied regularly, however it was presented for collection outside of his neighbour’s home. I cannot say why Mr X’s labelled bin was in the wrong place, or who was using it. However, on the evidence that I have seen, it appears this confusion led to issues with Mr X’s collections.
21. Mr X was, instead, using the unlabelled bin that had been left on his property. Due to his medical condition he was not able to present the bin for collection, and so left it on his property. He expected this to be emptied as assisted collections were in place. However, the crew had been told to empty Mr X’s labelled bin, which they did. This meant the unlabelled bin Mr X was using did not get emptied.
22. The Council’s Domestic Waste and Recycling Service Standard states that, for assisted collections, it will collect bins from an agreed point and return them to the same place. It does not state that bins need to be labelled. Although Mr X had requested that only his labelled bins were collected, the Council’s policy is that any bins presented at the collection point should be emptied and returned. The Council accept that the over-rigid application of the agreement to only empty the labelled bins is fault.
23. Neither Mr X or the Council can prevent somebody else from using his labelled bin. However, the Council should have emptied the bin Mr X was using, even if it was not labelled. This is fault, and caused Mr X injustice as the missed collections caused confusion and a build up of waste.
24. Mr X receives assisted collections due to his medical conditions and has no other way to dispose of his waste. Mr X has explained these missed collections caused him injustice as they resulted in a build up of rubbish which attracted pests and made it hard for him to use his garden path. He also says he tripped over the excess waste and injured himself.
25. I cannot say whether the build up of rubbish led to Mr X’s injury directly. However, the missed collections and confusion over his collections have caused him considerable distress. This increases the injustice caused by the Council’s failure to provide a regular waste collection service.

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Recommended action

26. Within one month of the final decision the Council should:
• write to Mr X and apologise for the frustration and distress caused by the identified faults;
• pay Mr X £300 for the missed collections, in recognition of the injustice caused to him by the identified faults;
• review Mr X’s assisted collection agreement with him to ensure instructions are clear.
27. The Council should monitor all of Mr X’s assisted collections for two months following the final decision. It should ensure it collects, empties, and returns the bins in line with the assisted collection policy.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

29. I find fault with the Council for failing to collect Mr X’s waste regularly, or in line with the assisted collection agreement. I have recommended remedies for the injustice caused to Mr X as a result.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman