Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his Mother Ms Y, that her assisted bin collections are not being carried out. We find fault with the Council for poor communication. We have suggested a financial payment for the frustration and distress caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council have failed to carry out the assisted bin collections for his mother, Ms Y, for two years.
2. This has caused a build-up of refuse inside Ms Y’s home giving the risk of repeat vermin infiltration.
3. Mr X would like the Council to follow its policy and carry out the assisted collections so Ms Y does not injure herself putting the bins out herself.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’  and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. A complaint is late 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)
6. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
7. 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)
8. 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.

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What I have and have not investigated

9. Mr X says there have been persistent problems with Ms Y’s missed bin collections for two years, since he requested the assisted collections. Mr X made a stage two complaint to the Council in May 2024.
10. I decided to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the service provided from the date of his complaint as there was no documentation to support the previous complaints. I have not investigated the earlier period because there was no good reason for the delay in bringing the complaint to us.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I have spoken to Mr X and considered all the information he provided.
12. I requested information from the Council but got no response. I looked at information on the Council’s website about the waste collection service.
13. Mr X and the Council 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

Law and Guidance

14. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
15. The Council operates an assisted collection service to eligible service users. Residents may be eligible for an assisted waste collection service if they have difficulty moving the waste containers, for example due to their age or disability.
16. For agreed assisted collections, the Council’s waste crews will collect the waste containers from an agreed location at the service user’s property, instead of them having to present the waste containers at the kerbside.

What happened

17. Ms Y is in her 90’s and suffers from ill health. Mr X arranged assisted bin collections for Ms Y around May 2023.
18. Mr X wrote to his Councillor in May 2024 saying the grey and green bins had not been collected.
19. Mr X said he worries about his Mother who is in her 90’s and frail. She will try and put the bins out herself as the Council is not doing the assisted collections. He was worried she would injure herself putting the bins out.
20. The Council responded to the Councillor saying this was the first it had heard of the issue. It spoke to the crew to ensure the bins get collected.
21. The bins were not collected so Mr X emailed the Council. The Council told Mr X in July the Team Leaders for the crew had changed and the new Team Leader will make sure Ms Y’s green bin will get emptied this week. The next day Mr X told the Council the green bin was not collected again.
22. The next day the council collected the green bin.
23. In August Mr X made a complaint to the Council. He said after he requested assisted collections, it was months before this was resolved for the grey bin, but the Council have never collected her green bin. This was escalated with her Councillor and seemed to be resolved recently, however there are problems with the grey bin collections again. He said this was a level two complaint.
24. Mr X asked the Council for any progress on his complaint on 12 September, saying the grey bin was not collected again.
25. The Council responded saying the complaint response would be due on 17 September. Mr X did not get a response so he chased the Council on 20 and 25 September, and 6 October.
26. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman in January 2025.
27. The Ombudsman chased the Council on various dates from January to July 2025, but got no substantive response.
28. In response to our draft decision, the Council said its records showed missed collections on the 29 September 2023, 16 February, 4 April, 11 April, 13 September 2024, and 5 June 2025.
29. The Council said there was no record of any formal complaint made for Ms Y. It treated the email from the Councillor as a member enquiry.
30. The Council admit it gave mistaken advice to Mr X in September when it said the stage two response would be due on 17 September (see paragraph 25). The system had not been checked so it did not pick up there was no stage two complaint opened and no complaint was actioned, as there had not been a stage once complaint.
31. The Council records show the Team Leader was in contact with Mr X in August 2024 as the crew were reporting lack of access to Ms Y’s address as the gate was locked. It says Mr X advised the lock was faulty and could appear locked.
32. The Council admit communication and complaint handling has been poor and said a business improvement review is underway to substantially increase resources and capacity.
33. The Head of Service said if there are any issues within the next two months following the final decision, Mr X can email her and she will personally look into the issue and contact Ms Y or Mr X.

Analysis

34. Mr X made a stage two complaint in August 2024. There was no stage one complaint and response, and the Council admit it gave the wrong advice to Mr X which is fault, causing Mr X frustration.
35. The Council failed to respond to Mr X’s (stage two) complaint which is fault, causing him frustration and the time and trouble of chasing a response.
36. The communication from the Council has been poor. It has failed to respond to our correspondence and Mr X says he has been complaining for two years. This is fault causing distress and frustration to Mr X.
37. We note the Head of Service will look into any further missed collections and welcome this remedy from the Council. As the Council are implementing a business improvement review I have not recommended any service improvements, as we will monitor this through our complaints.

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Agreed Action

38. To address the injustice to Ms Y, the Council should within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Ms X and Mr Y for the faults identified above. 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;
2. Make a symbolic payment of £200 to Ms Y in recognition of the distress and frustration caused;
3. Make a symbolic payment to Mr X of £150 for the time and trouble and frustration caused; and
4. Ensure Ms Y’s address is flagged as assisted collections.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final Decision

40. I find fault with the Council for failing to respond to Mr X’s complaint and for poor communication. We have agreed symbolic payments for the injustice caused.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman