Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to charge him for a replacement bin when his was stolen because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council charged him for a replacement bin after his was stolen.
2. Mr X says the matter impacted him financially.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We 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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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. Mr X complained the Council charged him £25 to replace his stolen bin. The Council responded and told Mr X it was its policy to charge for bins that had been stolen and said it would not refund Mr X the cost.
7. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman. The Council’s policy is clear that it will charge for replacement bins that are stolen. It is open to Mr X to report the theft to the police.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman