Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council delaying collecting an unused garden waste bin and not removing it at the times the officers advised. It was fault that the Council did not collect the bin sooner and in line with the timings it gave. The Council has now taken the bin. There is not sufficient significant injustice caused to Mr X by the matters to warrant us investigating and no worthwhile outcome an investigation would achieve.

The complaint

1. The Council’s garden waste service became a paid-for subscription service in 2023. Mr X decided not to subscribe so he no longer needed the Council’s garden waste wheelie bin. He asked the Council to remove the bin in late October 2023. Mr X complains the Council:
1. has delayed in removing the bin for several months;
2. did not keep to indications of when it would remove the bin.
2. Mr X says he has had to keep the Council-owned bin on his land. He says he needed to move it to use his garden gate. Mr X wants the Council’s bin removed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We 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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mr X and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council collected the garden waste bin in January 2024. It was fault that the Council did not collect the bin from Mr X for about three months and did not do so in line with the various timings it gave him. We recognise Mr X was left with a bin he had to work around during this delay and had cause to contact the Council several times which proved ineffective, which would have caused him frustration and inconvenience. But the personal injustice caused to Mr X by these matters is not sufficiently significant to warrant us investigating.
6. The complaint outcome Mr X sought was for the Council to collect the bin, which has now happened. There is no further worthwhile outcome to be achieved from an investigation.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant personal injustice caused to him by the matters complained of to warrant an investigation; and
• there is no worthwhile outcome to be achieved from investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman