Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to provide a large household waste bin within its published timescales. Although the Council’s website said the bin would be delivered within 10 days, almost six months later, he had still not received it. We found the delay in providing a larger household waste bin was fault. This fault means Mr X has had to dispose of excess waste himself. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to provide a large household waste bin within its published timescales. Mr X requested a new bin on 21 October 2024 and although the Council’s website said this would be delivered within 10 days, almost six months later, he had still not received it.
2. Mr X lives in a household of six people, including two young children in nappies. He says the current bin is too small for the household’s waste and that the excess waste causes his family health issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

7. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to arrange for the collection of household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
8. The Council provides all suitable properties with separate wheelie bins for household waste and recycling. Where properties are not suitable they will have a recycling box and need to present household waste in bin bags.
9. Any household can request an additional recycling wheelie bin and larger households of six or more people can request a larger household waste bin.

What happened here

10. Mr X lives with his wife, three young children and his mother. As a household of six people, on 21 October 2024 Mr X requested a larger household waste bin. At the time he made the request, the Council’s website said the delivery time for a new bin was 10 days.
11. On 7 November 2024 Mr X contacted the Council to complain the 10 days had passed and he had not received a larger bin. The Council responded the following day and apologised for the delay. It said it had been inundated with orders and was working on requests from March 2024. The Council confirmed Mr X’s request was in the queue and would be dealt with in due course.
12. The Council explained it had a huge backlog of deliveries due to machine issues. It said that although requests on Mr X’s online account close after a set period of time, they remain open with the service until actioned. The Council could not give an exact timeframe but said it would deliver Mr X’s bin as soon as it could.
13. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and asked for his complaint to be considered further. He said two of his children were in nappies and it was imperative he had access to a larger bin to meet the family’s needs. Mr X said the current bin fills up rapidly and impacts on his family, including his vulnerable mother’s hygiene and health. He asked the Council to resolve the matter urgently.
14. The Council reviewed Mr X’s complaint and responded on 28 November 2024. It acknowledged the problems the delay in delivering a larger bin was causing and assured Mr X it was working hard to catch up on outstanding deliveries. The Council explained it was making deliveries in date order based on when the request was made, to ensure fairness to all households awaiting a bin delivery. It apologised for the problems the delay had caused.
15. As Mr X remained dissatisfied, he has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. In response to our enquiries the Council says the delay in providing a replacement bin was due to manufacturing issues early last year at the factory that makes the bins and pods. It says this caused significant backlogs which got worse when the Council announced its plan to move to fortnightly collections.
16. The Council says it received over 3,000 requests for new or replacement bins in October 2024 alone, when Mr X requested his. At that time, there was already a backlog of orders.
17. In addition the Council says it was unable to change manufacturers as it is the only company that makes the pods and bins that can fit on its collection vehicles. The manufacturing issues were resolved last year but there are issues clearing the backlog due to the number of orders across the city. It says it is working through orders in date order and is also prioritising household waste bin deliveries and individuals on assisted collections. The Council says the current waiting time for a new or replacement bin is around six months. However when it receives an urgent request it can prioritise these orders to be delivered within two weeks depending on stock and driver availability.
18. The Council delivered Mr X’s bin on 16 April 2025 as an urgent request.
19. Mr X is unhappy the Council has delivered a second standard size bin rather than a large bin. He says he put both bins out for collection but only one was emptied. Mr X says he spoke to the driver of the collection vehicle who told him they were only able to collect one bin per household. Mr X says his neighbours have recently received a replacement large bin, and he is confused about why he was only given a standard size bin.

Analysis

20. There was a six month delay in providing Mr X with a replacement bin. While we recognise this was due to manufacturing issues outside of the Council’s control we still consider this to be a service failure. A finding of service failure does not imply blame, intent or bad faith on the part of the Council, but it still amounts to fault.
21. This fault has caused Mr X an injustice as he was unable to fit the household’s waste in to the standard bin and had nowhere to safely store the excess each week. Mr X has had to dispose of the excess waste himself at the recycling centre.
22. The Council has now provided Mr X with a second standard size bin, rather than a larger replacement bin. It is unclear whether this was an error, or a decision based on other considerations such as stock availability. In either event, if both standard size bins are not collected, it does not resolve Mr X’s problem of excess waste.
23. In January 2025 collection crews began industrial action. This began with specific strike days each week when waste would not be collected. Then from 11 March 2025 it became an all-out strike. The Council declared a major incident on 31 March 2025 to address the impact of the industrial action.
24. The industrial action inevitably affects the Council’s ability to collect the waste. It is possible that because of the strike action the Council is only able to collect one bin from each household. If this is the case, we would expect the Council to collect both bins once the strike action has ended. Alternatively, if even under normal circumstances the Council will only ever collect one bin per household, we would expect the Council to provide Mr X with a larger bin without delay.

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Action

25. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the delay in providing a larger bin has caused. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
26. The Council should take this action within eight weeks of the final decision on this complaint and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

27. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman