Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council repeatedly missing her assisted bin collection and about the conduct of refuse workers which caused her distress. We find the Council at fault which caused injustice. The Council has agreed to make a payment for the avoidable and unnecessary frustration caused to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has repeatedly missed her assisted bin collection. She also complains about the conduct of refuse workers. She complains this has been going on for several years and the issues are ongoing.
2. Mrs X says this causes her stress, distress and has impacted her mental health.

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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)
5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. Mrs X says matters have been going on for years. Mrs X complained to us in March 2024. As I have said above, we cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons for us to do so.
8. In this case, I have decided there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion and look back further than March 2023. I have therefore only considered the Council's actions from March 2023 onwards because this is 12 months before Mrs X brought her complaint to us.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered all comments received before making this final decision.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies and the Ombudsman’s guidance ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’. I also considered the relevant statutory guidance, as set out below.

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What I found

What should have happened

11. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. The collections do not have to be weekly, and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
12. Councils normally expect people to move their bins to the pavement in front of their property, to allow it to be easily collected. However, a council may decide to provide an assisted collection to a person if they are unable to move their bins because of a disability. For an assisted collection, the crew will enter the person’s property, such as their garden or driveway, to collect the bins, and then return them to their storage place afterwards.
13. The Council's practice is to make a fortnightly household waste and recycling collection.

What happened

14. Mrs X is registered for assisted collections.
15. In July 2023, Mrs X reported a missed collection. The Council marked the report as completed in August.
16. In August, Mrs X told the Council its refuse workers had damaged her bin. The Council marked her report as completed. Its records do not confirm what, if any, action was taken.
17. In September, Mrs X told the Council its refuse workers were not returning her bins to the agreed place. She also complained about the way refuse workers handled her bins. The Council’s records do not confirm what, if any, action was taken.
18. In early October, Mrs X made a formal complaint. She complained to the Council that its refuse workers were not following the agreed instructions for her assisted collection. She said they were lifting the bins over her fence instead of coming into her garden. The Council responded to her complaint a week later. The Council apologised to Mrs X and told her it would remind the crew about the requirements of her assisted collection.
19. In December, Mrs X complained to the Council that its refuse workers were still not returning her bins to the agreed place. A refuse supervisor visited Mrs X’s property the next day. The refuse supervisor found Mrs X’s bins were in the right place.
20. In January 2024, the Council responded to her escalated complaint. It apologised to Mrs X for the frustration the issues with her assisted bin collection had caused her. It said it had reminded the crew again about the requirements of her assisted collection. It said it would monitor the next collections from her property.
21. In February, Council records detail a further missed collection report.
22. In April, Mrs X complained to the Council about a comment made by a refuse worker. The Council investigated her complaint. It said video footage showed Mrs X and the refuse worker spoke to each other however the video did not have sound. It decided it could not prove the comment was made. It decided to retrain the refuse worker involved.
23. In April, Mrs X asked the Council to pay her compensation for the problems she had experienced with her assisted bin collection. The Head of Cleansing Services visited Mrs X and the Council decided to offer her a £25 goodwill payment.
24. Mrs X told the Council she was unhappy with the £25 goodwill payment and requested an additional £100. The Council considered Mrs X’s request and decided £25 was sufficient because it was satisfied the bin collections were now taking place properly.

Analysis

25. It is clear from the Council’s records it failed to consistently provide Mrs X with the agreed assisted collection service from July 2023 to February 2024. These failings in the assisted collection service amount to fault.
26. Mrs X says there were issues with her assisted bin collections prior to July 2023. The Council has not provided records of any missed assisted bin collection reports made by Mrs X during the scope of my investigation from March 2023 to July 2023.
27. The Council did send a supervisor to Mrs X’s property following her complaint in December. The supervisor visited the day after the refuse collection and found her bins were in the right place. However, because of the time between the refuse collection and the visit I cannot say if it was the refuse workers who placed Mrs X’s bins in the right place or whether someone moved them on her behalf.
28. The Ombudsman’s guidance ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’ states that a council should keep proper and appropriate records. The Council did not detail the action it took in response to Mrs X’s July, August and September reports of issues with her collections. This is fault which caused injustice.
29. The Council has provided records showing it monitored Mrs X’s bin collection in January 2024. The record does not detail the duration of the monitoring. The record also details a further report of missed collection in February. However there have been no further issues reported by Mrs X about failures to provide her agreed assisted collection service since then. It appears the Council has now addressed the issues and the matter is no longer ongoing.
30. There is nothing a further investigation could add to the Council’s investigation about the alleged comment made by a refuse worker to Mrs X in April 2024. This is because the recording of the incident does not have sound, and therefore there is insufficient evidence to make a finding. In any case, I am satisfied with the Council’s decision to retrain the refuse worker.
31. Having identified fault, I must consider whether this has caused Mrs X a significant injustice. Mrs X was distressed by the refuse workers lifting her bins over the fence and not returning them properly. She says she still stands outside her home to make sure the refuse workers complete her agreed assisted collection. She says this causes her stress and physical pain because of her disability.
32. I find Mrs X experienced unnecessary and avoidable distress and frustration that despite reporting issues, making a formal complaint and the Council telling her it took action, issues continued until February 2024.
33. I am satisfied with the Council’s written apology to Mrs X in January 2024, for the frustration the issues with her assisted bin collection had caused her.

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Agreed action

34. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to make a payment of £100 to Mrs X. This is in recognition of the frustration the repeated failure to carry out her agreed assisted household waste collections caused.
35. In arriving at this figure, I considered our published guidance on remedies. I have considered the level of frustration caused, Mrs X’s vulnerability, and the length of time involved. I consider this amount is proportionate and appropriate to the level of injustice caused.
36. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

37. I have completed my investigation. I find the Council at fault and this caused injustice. The Council has agreed to make a payment of £100 to Mrs X.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman