Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s garden waste collection service. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains about the Council’s handling of a mistake which meant she was under-charged for the garden waste collection service. Mrs B says she has done nothing wrong and the Council is wrong to issue a new bill earlier than scheduled. Mrs B says the Council should wait until a new bill is due in April 2025 before requiring her to pay the correct amount.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has told Mrs B that because of a billing mistake it had charged her for the wrong size garden waste bin. The Council says in April 2024 it charged Mrs B £49 for the annual garden waste collection service instead of the correct amount of £65. The Council said this means Mrs B has not paid the full amount for the whole year. The Council told Mrs B to avoid disruption to her collections it has brought her renewal date forward to December 2024, rather than April 2025.
6. We will not investigate this complaint.
7. The Council’s proposal is reasonable and does not mean Mrs B is paying any more than she should be paying for the garden waste collection service.
8. It is not our role to tell the Council it should wait until April 2025 before asking Mrs B to pay the correct fee.
9. So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman