Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to collect her household and recycling waste and respond when she reported the missed collections. We find the Council at fault in relation to the missed collections which caused Mrs X avoidable frustration, distress, and inconvenience. The Council has already apologised to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to consistently collect her household and recycling waste. She says between August 2023 and July 2024 there has been at least 14 missed collections of either general waste, recycling or both.
2. Mrs X says the bins become overfull and smell. It is also stressful and time consuming having to repeatedly report the issue and complain.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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. I discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered the information she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided.
6. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

7. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. The collections do not have to be weekly, and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
8. The Council’s main method of refuse collection is either a fortnightly wheelie bin collection or a weekly refuse bag collection for homes that cannot store a wheelie bin. It collects recycling separately every fortnight.
9. The Council’s policy states it will aim to collect refuse and recycling on the scheduled day. If it misses a collection it will return to collect within 48 working hours to ensure the collection is completed.

What happened

10. Below is a chronology of key events. It is not meant to show everything that happened.
11. Mrs X lives in a block of 18 flats. Mrs X says she has reported approximately 14 missed household and recycling collections between July 2023 and August 2024.
12. The available records, show Mrs X reported seven missed bin collections for the following dates, in the period I am investigating. These were:
• 15 December 2023;
• 29 December 2023;
• 8 March 2024;
• 5 April 2024;
• 17 May 2024;
• 14 June 2024; and
• 12 July 2024

Mrs X’s complaints

13. Mrs X formally complained to the Council about missed household waste and recycling collections. Mrs X raised three complaints and said the Council had missed her collections on numerous occasions and despite reassurances that the issues had been resolved, the Council missed further collections.

The Council’s responses

14. In April 2024, the Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint and explained that vehicle tracking data showed that the road was being missed by the collection crew. The Council:

• apologised for ongoing issues with Mrs X’s waste collection;
• agreed to clear the area; and
• monitor future collections.

15. In May 2024, Mrs X raised a further complaint. In its stage one response the Council:

• confirmed the collection crew had returned to collect the waste;
• said the crew had been instructed to report back after every collection; and
• said the crew had reported the recycling waste was contaminated and could not be collected.

16. Mrs X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and escalated her complaint. In its stage two response the Council:

• apologised for ongoing issues with Mrs X’s waste collection; and
• agreed to monitor the collections over the next three cycles to ensure it was collected properly.

17. In June 2024, Mrs X raised a further complaint. In its stage one response the Council explained that it had inspected the bins at Mrs X’s property and advised the third bin was for a private contractor and would be exchanged for a Swindon Borough Council Bin. The Council said this should resolve missed collections with the bin.
18. Mrs X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and escalated her complaint. Mrs X referred to a missed collection on 12 July 2024. In its stage two response the Council confirmed the recycling waste was collected as scheduled but the household waste collection was missed, due to issues with the collection vehicle. The collection crew returned to collect the missed waste on the next working day.
19. Mrs X told the Ombudsman that during periods of monitoring the collections were completed as scheduled. Though when the monitoring period ended, collections continued to be missed. Mrs X confirmed that since August 2024 collections have improved.
20. In response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries the Council said access to the site was difficult, especially early in the morning and later in the day due to narrow gaps and parked cars. The Council acknowledged that frequent changes in collection crew and lack of familiarity with the site and processes may have contributed to the service failures Mrs X experienced.
21. The Council explained that in November 2023, it introduced food waste collections, and the fleet was upgraded with new trucks which caused an increased backlog until March 2024. This combined with a shortage of staff and different crews working on collections led to several missed collections.

Analysis

22. The Council failed to collect Mrs X’s household and recycling waste on multiple occasions. The Council’s failure to collect the bins was not in line with its policy of a fortnightly collection and is fault. It meant Mrs X had to go to the inconvenience of reporting the issues which caused her avoidable frustration and time and trouble pursuing her complaints.
23. In response to Mrs X’s complaints the Council agreed to implement a period of monitoring. The Council has not provided evidence of the monitoring activity that took place. This is fault and raises concerns about the Council’s record keeping. On balance, I am satisfied the monitoring was effective when in place, as Mrs X told the Ombudsman that collections improved during these periods.

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Agreed action

24. When considering the injustice caused to Mrs X, I took account of the apology the Council already gave her and Mrs X’s feedback that collections have improved.
25. Within one month of my final decision the Council will make a symbolic payment of £100 to Mrs X to reflect the avoidable frustration, inconvenience and distress caused to her by the faults identified in this statement.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

27. I have found fault by the Council causing an injustice to Mrs X. I have completed my investigation on this basis.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman