Summary: Ms X complained that the Council repeatedly failed to collect her rubbish despite her frequently reporting issues. We found insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her general waste and recycling despite her repeatedly reporting issues. She says this has caused frustration and inconvenience, and leaving the rubbish outside her property overnight awaiting collection means it is often attacked by foxes causing further inconvenience.

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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 all the information provided by Ms X, made enquiries of the Council and considered its comments and the documents it provided.
5. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

6. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to arrange for the collection of household waste and recycling from properties in its 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’s website says household waste for Ms X’s property are completed weekly on a Thursday. Recycling is collected weekly on a Tuesday. Residents should leave their rubbish and recycling at the edge of their property by 7 am on the day of collection. Residents can report missed collections through the Council’s website but should wait 24 hours after their scheduled bin collection before reporting a missed collection.
8. The Council does not have a written policy on waste collection procedures currently but says its procedure is that a missed collection should be rectified within 24 hours.

Key facts

9. Ms X has reported missed household waste and recycling collections on many occasions since April 2023.
10. On 16 May Ms X complained to the Council saying she had reported several missed collections, both general waste and recycling, over the previous few weeks and the problem had not been resolved.
11. An officer, Officer A, responded on 23 May apologising for the issues. He said he had conducted a site visit that morning and noted that her general waste had been cleared. He said had issued written instructions to the crew to ensure they made all collections and he would monitor the situation by visiting Ms X’s address to ensure they had complied.
12. On 29 May Ms X reported both her recycling and general waste collections had been missed despite Officer A’s assurances in his email of 23 May. She also said that, despite the officer’s email, she had returned home on 23 May to find the refuse bag still sitting outside her house. She said Officer A could not have visited her property or he would have seen it.
13. Officer A responded saying he had conducted several site visits and every time he had visited on the scheduled collection day, he had not seen any general waste outstanding close to Ms X’s address. He requested an exact location and photographs. He also said he had passed the matter to the recycling department for them to investigate the missed recycling collections, but he was working closely with them to resolve the issues.
14. In June Ms X reported further missed collections. On 7 and 16 June the Council’s records show the crew reported that the waste was not out for collection when they visited.
15. On 31 August Ms X reported a missed recycling collection but the crew recorded this as “cleared”.
16. Officer A carried out a period of monitoring during September and visited Ms X’s property four times. On three occasions he found no refuse or recycling. On 7 September he took photographs at 08.38 am showing no bags outside Ms X’s property. On 13 September he took a photograph showing no bags outside Ms X’s property at 09.38 am. On 14 September 2023 he found one recycling bag which he removed. He took a photograph of the bag outside the property. X says Officer A found no waste outside her property because she was away for part of September
17. On 10 September Ms X made a further complaint. She said she had been repeatedly reporting missed recycling and general waste collections since April and had provided photographs of her property to avoid any errors.
18. Officer A responded on 28 September. He said he had been making weekly visits to Ms X’s property apart from when the crews were on strike during the last two weeks of September. He said he had been ensuring the general waste had been collected as part of his monitoring exercises and had removed the waste personally if the crew were delayed for any reason. He said he had photographs to substantiate this.
19. On 5 October Ms X reported a missed general waste collection. The crew’s notes state “already collected nothing was visible on visit”. However, at 18.40 the same day Ms X sent an email to Officer A saying both her recycling and general waste were still sitting outside her front door. She attached a photograph evidencing this.
20. On 13 October Ms X reported a missed recycling collection. However, the crew’s notes state “cleared”. The same day Ms X reported a missed general waste collection. The Council’s records state “crew reported waste was not out”.
21. On 20 October Ms X reported a missed recycling collection. The Council’s notes of again state “crew reported waste was not out”.
22. The same day Ms X reported a missed residual waste collection. The Council’s notes state “already collected nothing was visible on visit”.
23. On three occasions in November Ms X reported missed residual waste collections. On two of those occasions the crew’s notes state “cleared”. On a third occasion the Council’s notes state “crew reported waste was not out”.
24. On 3 December Ms X reported a missed residual waste collection. The Council’s notes state “already collected nothing was visible on visit”.
25. Ms X complained to us.

Analysis

26. Ms X says she has been reporting missed waste collections since April 2023. She says the bags sit outside her house for days at a time and other people add their waste to the pile and it is often attacked by foxes and ends up all over the street.
27. The Council says that, when monitoring has been completed, no waste has been found except on one occasion and it has received no complaints from neighbouring properties.
28. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
29. In this case, there is conflicting evidence. Ms X is clear that her waste has not been collected on numerous occasions and there is evidence that she has reported the issue many times. However, the Council’s records show that the crews have frequently reported that no waste was out for collection when they visited and during the monitoring period only one bag was found to have been missed.
30. The Council’s service level agreement is that it will collect a missed collection within 24 hours of it being reported. The crews work until 8 PM so, on its website, the Council asks members of the public to wait 24 hours before reporting a missed collection. We would not find fault by the Council if the crew returned within 24 hours of a missed collection being reported. The evidence is that crews have often returned to collect Ms X’s waste after she has reported a missed collection but found no waste outside her property. Ms X admits that she never leaves the waste outside for long enough to become a nuisance and it is therefore likely that, when the crew returned to collection, she had removed it.
31. On balance, I do not consider there is sufficient evidence of fault by the Council. In reaching this conclusion, I am also persuaded by the fact that the Council has received no complaints from other residents which is something we would usually expect when someone reports frequent missed collections. In any event, I am satisfied the Council properly investigated Ms X’s concerns and took appropriate action by carrying out a period of monitoring and prioritising her address.

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Final decision

32. There is insufficient evidence to make a finding of fault. So, I do not uphold Ms X’s complaint.
33. I have completed my investigation on this basis.

Investigator’s draft decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman