Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about missed refuse collections resulting from strike action by the Council’s refuse collection crews. This is because the complaint is about an issue which affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area and the law does not allow us to investigate such matters.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has failed to collect her household waste due to strike action by its collection crews. She says she is out of pocket due to increases in council tax and believes the Council is incapable of resolving the dispute with its workers.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully.
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. From time to time councils may be affected by industrial strike action by its employees or contractors. It is not for us to comment on the rights and wrongs of such action and we cannot say councils must give in to the demands of those who choose to strike.
6. The strike in this case affects all or most of the residents in the Council’s area and Mrs X is affected by it in the same way as any other resident. The exclusion set out at Paragraph 3 therefore applies.
7. While I appreciate Mrs X is frustrated there is no entitlement to a refund of council tax simply because a resident does not use a service or where the council, for some reason, does not provide it.

8. The Council has in any event recently confirmed the union representing the refuse collection crews have voted to end any further industrial action so normal service should resume in due course.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is about an issue which affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman