Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not providing a garden waste collection he expected to receive over Christmas, and that its service contract is unfair and in breach of consumer law. There is insufficient significant personal injustice to Mr X caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating. It would be reasonable for him to pursue any legal finding regarding the contract in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X subscribes to the Council’s paid-for garden waste collection scheme. He complains the Council:
1. did not provide a garden waste collection he was expecting to receive during the Christmas period;
2. has unfair and unclear terms and conditions in its garden waste scheme contract which breach consumer rights law.
2. Mr X says he has been subject to the unfair contract terms because the Council will not reimburse him for the collection he did not receive. He says all other signatories to the same contract are similarly affected by those unfair terms. Mr X says he has been frustrated and annoyed by the Council’s interpretation of the contract and officers not understanding or using plain English, including during the complaint process. He is also frustrated that the Council will not change the contract’s wording.

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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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

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

4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mr X, the Council’s website and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X’s complaint in relation to the Christmas collection is that the Councils contract says it may ‘postpone’ the collection service during Christmas or other periods. He says the service was not postponed as this indicates the collection would be delayed but done later. He did not receive the collection later; the service resumed four weeks later with no postponed collection provided. The Council upheld this part of Mr X’s complaint. It accepts the use of the word ‘postpone’ was incorrect but says each subscriber was reminded there would be no Christmas week collection. Officers also say the contract’s wording will be changed to make it clear when the garden waste bin collections will be made and when they will not.
7. Even though the Council accepts it was fault for its terms and conditions to refer to its service as ‘postponed’ at Christmas, we will not investigate. The proportion of the yearly service fee for that collection was less than £2. We note Mr X has also been frustrated and annoyed by the matter. But this and the other impacts of him not receiving a Christmas collection do not amount to such significant personal injustice to Mr X to warrant us using our resources and investigating.
8. We note Mr X is concerned other residents who use the Council’s garden waste service have been similarly affected by the Christmas collection issue. Mr X has no standing to bring the complaint on behalf of any other resident. The injustice of others is not Mr X’s personal injustice and does not give grounds to investigate his complaint.
9. Mr X considers the Council’s garden waste scheme has unfair and unclear terms and conditions, in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA). The Council has advised him it will review its contract terms in the context of consumer law and seek specialist legal advice when doing so. We cannot make legal findings on whether a council contract is in breach of a law, including the CRA. It would be reasonable for Mr X to pursue at court such a finding, should he decide to seek one, because only the courts can make such decisions.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant personal injustice to him caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating; and
• it would be reasonable for him to pursue any legal finding regarding the Council’s contract in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman