East Hampshire District Council (24 015 315)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Councils’ decision to increase the charge for its garden waste collection. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to increase the amount it charges for its garden waste collection service. Mr X also complains about how the council responded to his complaints about this matter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the @complainant @and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We are not an appeal body. Our role is to review the process by which decisions are made. We look for evidence of fault causing a significant injustice to the individual complainant.
- I will not investigate this complaint. The Council explained to Mr X that the decision to increase the charge was due to operational factors. During a Council cabinet meeting held in November 2023, the Council fully considered the reasons for increasing the charge, and concluded that the increase was necessary.
- There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council decided to increase the charge for its garden waste collection service to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman, and so I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman