Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to charge him for a replacement bin because the claimed injustice is not significant enough. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about staff conduct, the Council’s complaints process, or the Council’s implementation of his request for reasonable adjustments because there is insufficient evidence of fault for most of these matters, and an investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome for the remainder.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council:
1. charged him for a replacement waste bin when his was lost during a storm;
2. failed to investigate his complaints about the conduct of Council officers and about the Council’s complaints process; and
3. failed to implement his request for reasonable adjustments.
2. Mr X said the matter caused him distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Replacement bin

6. Mr X complained to the Council about its decision to charge him for a replacement bin after his blew away during a storm.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The law allows the Council to charge for waste containers. The Council charges between £34.10 and £52.30 to replace a lost or damaged bin. Consequently, Mr X’s claimed injustice (having to pay for a replacement bin) is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Council officer conduct and the Council’s complaints process

8. Mr X submitted several complaints to the Council about the conduct of its staff. This included matters relating to his primary complaint about his replacement bin and the Council’s decision not to register the matter as a complaint, as well as complaints about how staff responded to him generally.
9. The Council considered Mr X’s complaints, but mostly found its staff were courteous during calls and offered accurate advice. It did not uphold most of Mr X’s complaints.
10. Although Mr X is unhappy with the outcome of his calls with the Council, as well as its decision not to register a complaint about the primary matter, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to lead to a different outcome, and so we will not investigate these complaints.
11. On one occasion, the Council found the information provided to Mr X by an officer was not accurate. It apologised and informed Mr X it offered training to the member of staff to prevent recurrence of the fault. An investigation into this matter is unlikely to achieve a different outcome, and so we will not investigate this complaint.

Reasonable adjustments

12. Mr X asked the Council to implement reasonable adjustments. The Council offered Mr X several opportunities to discuss his requirements, but Mr X did not respond.
13. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mr X’s requests for reasonable adjustments. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate part of Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice. For the remainder, there is insufficient evidence of fault, or an investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman