Summary: Mrs X complained that although her mother, Mrs Y should receive assisted collections the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste and recycling. Mrs X also complains that when the Council does empty Mrs Y’s bin, it does not return it correctly to Mrs Y’s property. The Council’s repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste and recycling collections, and to return Mrs Y’s bin correctly is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X and Mrs Y an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complained that although her mother, Mrs Y should receive assisted collections the Council has repeatedly failed to collect her household waste and recycling. Mrs X also complains that when the Council does empty Mrs Y’s bin, it does not return it correctly to Mrs Y’s property.
2. The failings in the assisted collection service the Council provides to Mrs Y cause her significant distress and anxiety.

Back to top

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. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with Mrs X
• Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

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 practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
8. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
9. When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.

What happened here

10. Mrs Y is registered for assisted collections. Mrs X says there have been problems with the assisted collection service Mrs Y receives since the outset. She says collections are routinely missed then when she complains there is an improvement in service for a couple of weeks, but this does not last.
11. The missed collections cause Mrs Y a great deal of distress. As a result she will often wait on the street or try and catch up with the crew when a collection is missed. Mrs X is concerned that given Mrs Y’s age, this could lead to her injuring herself or becoming unwell.
12. According to the Council’s records Mrs X reported 11 missed household waste collections and one missed recycling collections between 3 July 2023 and 1 March 2024. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. In the majority of cases, the records show the missed collection was made within a few days of being reported.
13. However, the Council has also provided recordings of some of Mrs X’s more recent calls which suggest the missed collections were not collected on the dates recorded. For example Mrs X reported the collections scheduled for 16 and 23 February 2024 were missed. The Council’s records show these collections were subsequently made on 22 and 27 February 2024. But when Mrs X telephoned to report a further missed collection on 1 March 2024 she told the council officer that waste was still there from her earlier reports as the bin had not been emptied for three weeks.
14. In addition to reporting missed collections Mrs X also made a formal complaint in late September 2023. She complained the household waste had again not been collected for two consecutive weeks. Mrs X asserted her complaints were being ignored and questioned how many time she would need to complain before Mrs Y received the agreed assisted collection service.
15. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint at the end of October 2023. It upheld Mrs X’s complaint and apologised for any inconvenience caused. The Council confirmed it had escalated the matter to the depot so they could speak to the crew and ensure the waste was collected. It also noted the depot had confirmed on 13 October 2023 that it had made a further collection and there were no further reports of missed collections. The Council said this indicated things were now working as they should.
16. Mrs X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and asked for her complaint to be considered further. She told the Council that Mrs Y had had to go outside to stop the collection crew from missing her bin again on 27 October 2023. And that having then emptied her bin, the crew then left it on the side of the road rather than return it to her property. Mrs Y struggled to pull the bin back to her property herself. Mrs X asked the Council to ensure that the collection crew did their job correctly as the bins were often left with the lids open so they fill with rain water and are not returned properly.
17. In its response the Council apologised for the missed collections and for the bins not being returned correctly. It again confirmed a depot manager had spoken to the collection crew and issued reminders to pay particular attention to Mrs Y’s collection. The Council also confirmed the depot had placed Mrs Y’s property on its weekly monitoring list so that any incidents could be monitored and actioned. It anticipated this would resolve the matter.
18. As the missed collections continued Mrs X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint. Mrs X has since made a further complaint to the Council. The Council responded in early March 2024 and again told Mrs X the depot service manager would speak to the crew and issue another reminder before the next collection.
19. Mrs X does not consider the Council’s actions are sufficient or effective as a further collection was missed on 22 March 2024. Mrs X has also reported further missed collections in April 2024.
20. In response to my enquiries the Council says it has introduced a new process when responding to and monitoring missed collections. This initially involves officers at the depot including reminders in the crew pack for the next scheduled collection, reporting the issue to an assistant service manager (ASM) and adding the address to a missed collection spreadsheet.
21. If the next collection is missed, or there are more than one missed collection in eight weeks the ASM will check with the crew whether there are any issues with the address. The property is also added to the official eight-week monitoring list to monitor missed collections. Where there are more than two missed collections in the monitoring period the matter is escalated to the service manager and the crew may be issued with a warning letter.
22. The Council says that although officers have noticed the missed collections from Mrs Y’s property, due to staffing issues official monitoring had not started. It says managers are aware of the situation and Mrs Y’s property will be added to the official monitoring list.
23. In addition the Council says there are two main ways it notifies collection crews of assisted collections on their routes. Firstly, assisted collections are shown on the crew’s tablets, and secondly, in case of technical issues with the tablet, the depot produces a hard copy of the assisted collection list which it gives to each crew.
24. The Council has spoken to the depot about Mrs Y’s missed collections and says the main cause is crew negligence which stems from general staffing resource issues. The Council says Mrs Y’s collections are not done by a set crew each week. They are either done by spare crews or are added on to the end of other crews’ rounds. In addition the Council says there is high demand for assisted collections in Mrs Y’s area and sometimes crews may accidentally miss assisted collections, especially if they are not on their usual round and are unsure of the area.

Analysis

25. It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Mrs Y’s household waste. These failings in the assisted collection service amount to fault.
26. Although the Council’s records suggest the waste was collected within a few days of most missed collections there are inconsistencies in the records. And Mrs X’s and complaints and calls refer to consecutive missed collections and an accumulation of waste. I do not therefore consider the Council’s records are a reliable reflection of the extent of the missed collections, or when it actually collected the waste.
27. I recognise the Council may have staffing resources issues, but that does not necessarily explain why Mrs Y’s bins are regularly missed or not returned to her property when empty. All collection crews, whether they are the regular crew or a replacement crew, are provided with details of assisted collections on the route. It should therefore be clear to all crews which properties require assisted collections and what this involves.
28. If the Council’s current system for ensuring crews are aware of and can locate properties with assisted collections their rounds is not effective, the Council should take action to address this.
29. Having identified fault, I must consider whether this has caused Mrs X and Mrs Y a significant injustice. Mrs Y is extremely distressed by the missed collections and failure to return her bin properly. She is unable to move the bins herself and is concerned about an accumulation of waste. In an attempt to avoid missed collections Mrs Y will wait outside or attempt to catch up with crew to ensure her waste is collected. Mrs Y should not have to do this and risks becoming unwell or inuring herself, particularly in inclement weather.
30. Mrs X has experienced frustration and disappointment that despite her complaints and repeatedly reporting the missed collections they have continued. Mrs X has also been put to time and trouble in pursuing this matter.
31. It is disappointing that having identified consecutive missed collections and having told Mrs X in November 2023 it would include Mrs Y’s property on its monitoring list, that this has not been done. The Council has confirmed it will now add Mrs Y’s property to the official monitoring list. This is to be welcomed but should have happened much sooner.
32. It is unclear from the information provided how this monitoring will take place. The Council’s process says that after each collection day officers at the depot will highlight the monitoring list using designated key colours to show whether the collection took place, was missed, or other issues arose. The Council has not indicated how, or from whom the officers will obtain the information to highlight the list.
33. The process states that where collections are missed during the monitoring period an officer will contact the resident to check whether the collection took place. This suggests the monitoring does not involve an officer attending the collection. If they were, it would not be necessary to check with the resident whether the collection had been made.
34. Given the repeated failures in the assisted collection service Mrs Y has received, I consider the monitoring in this instance should be carried out by a supervisor or manager attending the collection and keeping a record that the collection was completed.

Back to top

Agreed action

35. The Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Mrs X and Mrs Y for the repeated failure to make the agreed assisted collections. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• pay Mrs Y £250 in recognition of the upset and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste and recycling collections has caused.
• monitor Mrs Y’s household waste and recycling collections for eight weeks to ensure the assisted collections are carried out properly and the bins are returned to the collection point. This monitoring should be carried out by the crew manager/ driver on the collection each week and any issues reported to the depot.
36. The Council should take this action within eight weeks of the date of the final decision in this matter and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

37. The Council’s repeated failure to make regular assisted household waste and recycling collections, and to return Mrs Y’s bin correctly is fault. This fault has caused Mrs X and Mrs Y an injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman