Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council charging her for a replacement bin. This is because an investigation would not be a good use of our limited resources or achieve a meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs B says her bin was damaged during collection and the Council is wrong to say this was caused by wear and tear and she must pay for a new bin.

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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 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 an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs B and information on the Council’s website about new and replacement refuse bins.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We will not investigate this complaint.
6. It is highly unlikely an investigation would allow us to make sound findings about the cause of the damage to Mrs B’s bin. Also, councils are allowed to charge for replacement bins and the £33.50 fee is relatively modest. So, the issue Mrs B complains about does not justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because an investigation would not be a good use of our limited resources or achieve a meaningful outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman