Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about missed refuse collections. This is because the Council has already taken suitable action in response to the complaint and the matter has not caused Miss X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains her bins were not collected for two weeks over the Christmas period and about the impact of this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start 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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6) & (7), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained to the Council about missed collections which meant her bins and Christmas tree were not collected for two weeks over the festive period.
7. The Council apologised to Miss X for the inconvenience and frustration caused by its delay in completing collections during this period. It explained this followed a significant change to its waste and recycling service as well as significant staff shortages which had now been resolved. It said it had a recovery plan in place to support crews with completing the collections and it was hoping to return to its usual service very soon.
8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because whilst I acknowledge the missed collections caused some inconvenience it did not cause Miss X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant a further investigation by this office. The Council’s apology and explanation offers a suitable response to the issue raised. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and we must focus our limited public resources on investigating those complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice as a direct result of fault by a body in our jurisdiction.
9. Miss X seeks a reduction of her Council Tax bill as a remedy. However, Council Tax is a local property tax rather than a service charge. As such, a reduction in Council Tax is not applicable should a Council service not be received or provided for any reason.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has already taken suitable action in response to the complaint. Also, the matter has not caused Miss X any significant personal justice which merits an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman