Summary: Mr B complained the Council regularly failed to collect his waste bins, failed to arrange further collections following missed collections, failed to respond to his correspondence and gave residents misleading information about where to place their bins. The Council failed to ensure its contractors regularly collected Mr B’s bins, did not always arrange follow-up collections, gave misleading advice about where to place the bins and failed to respond to correspondence. That caused Mr B frustration and led to him having to go to time and trouble. The procedural changes the Council has introduced, alongside an apology and payment to Mr B is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complained the Council:
• regularly failed to collect his waste bins;
• failed to arrange further collections following missed collections;
• gave him and other residents conflicting information about where to place their bins; and
• failed to respond to his correspondence.
2. Mr B says the Council’s failures caused him frustration, led to him having to go to time and trouble to pursue his complaint and meant he had to take his refuse to the waste disposal centre.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a Council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated what has happened since November 2023. I have not investigated the period between 2020 and 2023, when Mr B says he experienced similar problems with waste collection. That is because I see no reason why Mr B could not have complained to the Ombudsman at the time.

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How I considered this complaint

7. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mr B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
8. Mr B 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

The law and guidance

9. Councils, as local waste collection authorities, have a duty to collect domestic waste and recycling from households. This is set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
10. The Ombudsman issued a focus report in 2017: ‘Lifting the lid on bin complaints: learning to improve waste and recycling services.’ (focus report)

What happened

11. Mr B reported a missed bin collection on 30 November 2023. The Council says it arranged for the crew to return to collect the bin.
12. Mr B contacted the Council again on 5 December to report a missed collection on 15 November. The Council rejected that report as out of time.
13. Mr B sent a letter of complaint to the Council on 12 December which contained a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request. The Council accepts when responding it only addressed the FOI issues, rather than responding to the complaint.
14. Mr B reported a further missed bin collection on 11 January 2024. The Council rejected that report as out of time.
15. Mr B reported another missed bin collection on 17 April. On the same day he wrote to the Council’s Chief Executive to chase a response to his complaint.
16. Mr B reported another missed bin collection on 24 April.
17. On 1 May a Council officer visited Mr B to discuss the bin collection issues.
18. Mr B reported another missed bin collection on 15 May.
19. The officer that visited Mr B on 1 May emailed him on 20 May to provide advice about presenting his bin further up the road due to parked cars obstructing the collection vehicle. The contractor though gave other residents different advice about where to present their bins.
20. Mr B reported another missed bin collection on 22 May. Mr B also wrote to the Council to raise concerns about residents receiving different advice about where to place their bins.
21. Mr B wrote to the Council again on 29 May. The Council acknowledged that letter on 31 May and said it would respond to Mr B the following week.
22. Mr B chased the Council on 13 and 21 June. In that correspondence Mr B reported a further missed collection on 5 June.
23. The Council responded to Mr B on 24 June. The Council told Mr B it would instruct the relevant team to revisit and agree on all presentation points for residents and then confirm that in writing. The Council apologised for any inconvenience.
24. Mr B reported further missed bin collections on 4 December 2024 and 6 January 2025.
25. The Council says it has taken the following action to address the issues with bin collections:
• written to residents in Mr B’s road to tell them where to place their bins for collection;
• introduced a new system for logging and tracking all resident communications to ensure timely and accurate responses. That system is monitored regularly;
• provided clearer guidelines for bin placement which involves contractors working with residents to agree on safe and compliant presentation locations for their waste. Council officers review and provide clear instructions where agreement cannot be reached;
• assigned a dedicated team to oversee waste collection services and ensure the contractor adheres to the agreed procedures. The team conducts regular site visits and updates residents on their collection status;
• implemented a system to provide regular updates to residents about waste collection services. That includes timely notifications of any changes or issues and steps being taken to resolve them;
• established a protocol to ensure missed collections are revisited within 48 hours. That is strictly enforced and any deviations promptly addressed.

Analysis

26. Mr B says Council contractors have regularly failed to collect his bins over a lengthy period. As we say in our focus report, councils cannot guarantee there will never be a missed collection. However, people are entitled to expect councils, and their contractors, to quickly respond to reports of missed collections and take effective action to deal with problems.
27. It is clear from the Council’s records Mr B reported nine missed bin collections between November 2023 and January 2025, although Mr B says it is more than that. Based on the documentary evidence I am satisfied the issue concerns difficulties the contractor has accessing Mr B’s road as it is a cul-de-sac which does not allow bin lorries to turn round. It is also clear though the issue has been exacerbated by the fact residents have received different information about where to place their bins. I am satisfied that conflicting advice has resulted in further missed collections for Mr B, who lives at the top of the cul-de-sac. Regularly failing to collect Mr B’s bin and providing residents with contradictory advice is fault.
28. The Council accepts sometimes the contractor has not returned to collect Mr B’s missed bin. That is despite the fact the process requires the contractor to return within 48-hours. That is also fault.
29. The Council accepts it has not always responded to Mr B’s reports of missed bins or his correspondence promptly. In some cases the Council has not responded to the correspondence at all. I am particularly concerned about that for the complaint Mr B put in during December 2023, which also contained an FOI request. I am satisfied despite identifying that and sending Mr B an acknowledgement of the complaint the Council failed to respond to the complaint issues raised. That, plus the delays responding to the correspondence, is fault.
30. I am satisfied the Council has taken action to address the issues that have arisen in this case, which I outlined in paragraph 25. I am satisfied those actions should ensure, going forward, a better service for residents. I have not received any evidence from the Council to show it has written to residents to confirm where they should place their bins for collection. I therefore recommend the Council write to residents to confirm where to place their bins.
31. Alongside that I am satisfied the failures in this case led Mr B to have to go to time and trouble to contact the Council and to take his rubbish to a waste disposal centre. To remedy that I recommended the Council apologise to Mr B and pay him £100. The Council has agreed to my recommendation.

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Action

32. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Mr B for the frustration 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;
• write to residents in Mr B’s road to confirm where to place their bins; and
• pay Mr B £100.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I find fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman