Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed bin collections. The Council has already taken appropriate action in response to the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains her refuse and recycling bins were not completely emptied, so she had to pay for the excess waste to be removed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we are satisfied with the actions a council had already taken or proposes to take.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6) & (7), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which consisted of their complaint correspondence.
4. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

6. Missed collections are annoying, frustrating, and inconvenient. But mistakes can happen and from time to time most people will have a missed collection. We need to make sure we use public money efficiently, so we would not normally investigate complaints where there have been just a couple of missed collections.
7. I understand Mrs X’s refuse and recycling containers were not completely emptied on three occasions. The Council has explained to us it is possible the contents were compacted, and its operatives are not permitted to handle the waste. After the first incident, the Council advised Mrs X to leave the waste outside and said it would be collected as quickly as possible. Mrs X decided to pay for it to be removed instead.
8. The Council also apologised for the delays to the collection service following the Christmas period, and said it would take several weeks to catch up. It explained the delays were caused by the implementation of a new collection scheme, as well as staff resourcing issues.
9. On balance, I consider the Council’s apology and explanation was a satisfactory way to address the injustice caused by the handful of missed collections, so the Ombudsman will not start an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has already taken appropriate action in response to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman