Summary: We have discontinued our investigation of this complaint, about the Council’s handling of waste management problems and anti-social behaviour. This is because it is late, and because we could not add anything to the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainant as Miss L. Miss L also represents her parents, Mr and Mrs C, as part of the same complaint.
2. Miss L complains the Council has failed to prevent nearby residents leaving their household waste bins on the pavement in front of their properties outside of collection times, causing obstructions and inviting anti-social behaviour. She also complains the Council has failed to tackle other general anti-social behaviour by local residents. Miss L says wishes the Council to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to address this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

6. I reviewed Miss L’s submission to the Ombudsman, and her complaint to the Council and its responses.
7. I also shared a draft copy of this decision with each party for their comments.

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What I found

8. The area near Mr C, Mrs C and Miss L’s home has very narrow pavements. She says many residents in the area leave their household waste bins on the pavement outside of collection times, making it difficult or impossible to walk there. This is a particular problem for her family because they have significant physical disabilities.
9. Miss L also says this invites anti-social behaviour, with bins being overturned or set on fire by passers-by, which in turns causes problems with vermin. Miss L complains there is also significant general anti-social behaviour by local residents.
10. In July 2022, Miss L submitted a formal complaint to the Council about its alleged failure to address these problems. The Council responded in January 2023, and then again in March 2023, explaining the particular difficulties it had with waste collection in the area due to its geographical layout and local demographics. It also explained the measures it had implemented, and further measures it was seeking to implement, to attempt to address these problems.
11. Miss L then approached the Ombudsman in March 2024.

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Analysis

12. The law says a person should approach the Ombudsman within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter they wish to complain about. This is called the ‘permitted period’.
13. It is unclear to me exactly when it could be said Miss L became aware of the problems she describes here. However, given she made a formal complaint to the Council in July 2022, it was evidently by this date at the latest – and, in fact, Miss L’s detailed submission to the Ombudsman indicates the problems have been going on for much longer than that. So I am satisfied her complaint falls outside the permitted period and is therefore late.
14. The law permits us to disapply this restriction, where we consider it appropriate, but we must first be satisfied the complainant had a good reason for their delay in approaching us. But I note, in particular, the very lengthy and detailed submission Miss L prepared for the Ombudsman, and that the Council commented in its own response to Miss L about the frequency, volume and detail of her correspondence with it. Given this, there is no suggestion Miss L has found it difficult to communicate about her complaint.
15. I also note the Council explicitly signposted Miss L to the Ombudsman when it responded to her stage 2 complaint in March 2023. I am there satisfied she could reasonably have been expected to approach the Ombudsman sooner than she did.
16. Even putting this point to one side, I also do not consider we could meaningfully add to the Council’s response to Miss L’s complaint anyway. It is apparent the Council was facing a series of obstacles in resolving the problems Miss L reports, but it described in detail the changes it had made, and was seeking to make, to help tackle them. It is not our role to direct the Council to adopt particular policies or practices, and so the most we could say here is that the Council considered the matter properly in line with the powers available to it.
17. I understand Miss L feels the changes the Council said it would make have not come to fruition. However, if so, this is a new matter, and the Council is entitled to an opportunity to address this through its complaints procedure before we embark on an investigation about it.
18. For these reasons, therefore, I will discontinue my investigation of Miss L’s complaint.

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Final decision

19. I have discontinued my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman