Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s bin lorry damaging a grass verge outside her house and bin staff making comments about her. There is insufficient personal injustice caused to Miss X by the verge to warrant us investigating. We cannot achieve the outcome she seeks regarding the verge. Miss X’s complaint about bin crew comments has not been raised with the Council so has not had opportunity to respond. We do not investigate such premature issues.

The complaint

1. Miss X lives in a property with a Council-owned grass verge between the footway and roadway. She complains:
1. the Council’s garden waste bin lorry has damaged the corner of the verge;
2. the bin staff have made comments about her.
2. Miss X says the sight of the verge to be unpleasant, the matter has caused her stress and she is embarrassed from neighbours talking about it. She says she is intimidated by the bin staff. Miss X wants the Council to fix the damaged verge and speak to bin staff to make sure they are not looking into her property and making comments.

Back to top

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.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Miss X, the complaint correspondence between her and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. The Council accepts its bin crew damaged the grass verge on some collections. An officer visited the site and advised crews how to drive around the area to prevent similar damage in future, wherever possible.
6. However, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient personal injustice caused to her by the damage to the grass verge to warrant an investigation. The presence of the damage, and any embarrassment and stress the matter caused to Miss X, is not sufficient injustice to justify us using our resources to investigate.
7. We note Miss X wants the Council to fix the damaged verge. But it is for the Council’s officers to decide whether to use any highway repairs resources to do work to the verge. We cannot order the Council to prioritise this defect over other damage in the area which has a greater impact on the public’s use of its highways. That we cannot achieve the outcome Miss X wants is a further reason why we will not investigate.
8. Miss X also complains bin crew members have made unspecified comments about her. The complaint correspondence with the Council shows she has not raised this complaint with the Council. The law expects us not to investigate where the authority complained of has not had appropriate opportunity to respond to it. Such matters are premature for us to consider. The Council has not had such opportunity here so we will not investigate it. If Miss X wishes to pursue this issue, she would need to raise it with the Council first and, if dissatisfied with the outcome, then bring the matter to us. We make no finding on this issue here. If we receive any complaint on this matter, we would apply all our tests to it, including the level of personal injustice caused by it.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant injustice caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating; and
• we cannot achieve the repair outcome sought; and
• the complaint to us about the comments of bin staff is premature.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman