Summary: Mr X complains the Council repeatedly failed to collect his food waste bin and failed to replace the bin when it was removed. The Council failed to investigate the reason for the missed collections, failed to ensure the process it had introduced to manage missed collections was in place and delayed replacing Mr X’s food waste bin. An apology, payment to Mr X, replacement of the food waste bin and further monitoring of his bin collections is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complained the Council:
• repeatedly failed to collect his food waste bin despite allegedly addressing the issues as part of a previous Ombudsman investigation;
• suggested the contractor missed some properties on the new route when he had made clear the contractor was collecting some of his waste bins but not his food waste bin; and
• failed to replace the food waste bin which was removed in June 2024.
2. Mr X says as a result he has experienced issues with rotting food in the bin, along with flies and maggots.

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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 an injustice, 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mr X's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
6. Mr X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

7. The Ombudsman upheld a complaint about failure to collect Mr X’s food waste bin in September 2023. As I understand it that was a communal food waste bin. As remedy for that complaint the Council agreed to provide Mr X with a new bin, review the missed bin report weekly to see if Mr X had reported any issues and to carry out random site visits to check the bin had been emptied over a 12 week period. At that point the Council was intending to change contractors in 2024 and it agreed to carry out various actions to ensure there were clear procedures in place and that monitoring of missed collections was robust.
8. The Council’s new contractor began in March 2024. The new contract has a process for missed bin collections. Under that process the system automatically highlights any property reporting a third issue in an eight week period. That property then becomes a hotspot property which is highlighted for attention. An appropriate financial penalty is then applied to the contractor for any further missed collections. The Council has confirmed it did not introduce the hotspot system until 25 June 2024.
9. Mr X reported missed collections three times in April 2024, twice in May 2024 and further missed collections in June 2024.
10. The Council considered a complaint from Mr X and told him missed collections should be rectified within three working days and if that was not possible crews would take extra rubbish or recycling on the next scheduled collection. The Council apologised for any miscommunication and explained there were issues with collections across the borough. The Council said it was working with the contractor to ensure the return of normal service. The Council said if further missed collections took place the Council would issue a contractual rectification and could then issue a default.
11. In June 2024 Mr X had his food waste bin removed. I understand the Council has agreed to replace that bin but has not yet done so.

Analysis

12. The Council accepts there were repeated failures to collect Mr X’s food waste bin between April and June 2024. It is clear from the Council’s response that the issues with bin collections were not limited to Mr X’s property and many other residents in the borough experienced the same issues with the new contractor.
13. In Mr X’s case though he already had an upheld Ombudsman complaint about missed bin collections with the previous contractor. I am concerned to note that despite the Council agreeing in that case to ensure there were clear procedures in place with the new contractor Mr X has continued to experience similar problems with collection of his food waste bin. It is also clear the part of the procedure which imposes financial penalties on the contractor for failing to collect bins was not in place from the outset of the contract. Had it been it is possible the issues with Mr X’s food waste collection could have been resolved earlier. Failure to ensure the process the Council had agreed was in place is fault. That has resulted in Mr X continuing to experience missed bin collections.
14. It is also clear though that although Mr X has repeatedly reported failure to collect his food waste bin the contractor has nevertheless collected his other bins. The Council says that may be because the crew did not know about the food bin or that its vehicle did not have a separate compartment to collect food waste. I am concerned to note though the Council has not tried to find out why the contractor collected Mr X’s other bins but not the food waste bin. Without doing that the Council could not address the issues to prevent them occurring again. Failure to investigate those issues is fault, particularly given the history of problems with food waste collection from Mr X’s property which predates the introduction of the new contractor.
15. Mr X says the Council told him when he reported missed collections the contractor would return within three days and then failed to do so. The evidence I have seen satisfies me the Council responded to Mr X’s report of missed waste collections by sending him a standardised response. In that response the Council said the contractor would aim to collect the waste within three working days. However, it also went on to say that due to service delays if it was not collected in that time the bin should be returned to the property to wait for the next collection. I am therefore satisfied the Council managed Mr X’s expectations here.
16. Mr X says the Council agreed to escalate his case to waste management on 16 April and that they would contact him and that did not happen. I understand Mr X is referring here to a telephone conversation he had with a Council officer. As I do not have a transcript of that telephone conversation I cannot confirm what the officer told Mr X. I therefore cannot reach a safe conclusion about when the Council’s officer told Mr X he would receive contact from waste management.
17. Mr X is concerned when the Council responded to his stage one complaint it failed to recognise the contractor had collected some of his bins but not his food waste bin. It is now clear the stage one complaint response the Council sent to Mr X was a standardised complaint response which it sent to all those who had complained about missed bin collections. I understand why the Council would do that given the number of missed collections that took place across the borough. I am satisfied though when Mr X pointed out the Council had not considered his specific issues the Council issued a tailored stage two complaint response. As I said earlier though, there is no evidence the Council investigated why the contractor was collecting some of Mr X’s bins but not the food waste bin.
18. I am concerned about the information the Council provided Mr X with in its stage two complaint response on 17 May 2024. In that letter the Council said if the contractor continued to miss collection of Mr X’s bin it would issue a contractual rectification which would result in a financial default. However, it is now clear although the reporting system was in place from the start of the contract the financial penalty system was not introduced until 25 June 2024. I am therefore concerned the Council misled Mr X on that point. That is also fault.
19. Mr X says the Council delayed replacing his food waste bin. The evidence I have seen satisfies me the Council knew Mr X’s food waste bin had been removed in June 2024. In those circumstances I am concerned the Council has still not replaced that bin. Failure to do that is fault. As remedy for that I recommended the Council replace the bin as a matter of priority and at least within one month of my final decision. The Council has agreed to my recommendation.
20. The Council said in its response to my enquiries that Mr X has not reported any issues since June 2024. I do not consider that surprising given the Council knows Mr X has not had a food waste container since June 2024. Because of that I cannot be sure the process the Council has in place to manage missed bin collections is working. I therefore recommended the Council monitor food waste collections from Mr X’s property for a further 12 weeks following replacement of the food waste bin and investigate the reasons for any future failures to collect his bin. I also recommended the Council apologise to Mr X and pay him £100 given the amount of time and trouble he has had to go to, across two different complaints. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.

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Agreed action

21. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Mr X for the distress he experienced due to the faults identified in this decision. The Council may want to refer to the Ombudsman’s updated guidance on remedies, which sets out the standards we expect apologies to meet;
• pay Mr X £100;
• replace Mr X’s food waste bin and, following that, carry out monitoring of his food waste collections for 12 weeks and investigate the reason for any further failure to collect the bin.

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Final decision

22. I have completed my investigation and uphold the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman