Bristol City Council (24 021 042)

Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 21 May 2025

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed recycling collections. The Council has apologised to the complainant and taken steps to improve the service. We consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains the Council missed his recycling collections multiple times between May 2024 and May 2025.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. The Council told Mr X its waste contractor has had problems with staffing and vehicle reliability. It also advised the volume of recycling has increased. This means the collections trucks are becoming full mid-round which means they must be emptied. This causes delays which sometimes means the crews cannot complete the collections on time.
  2. However, it has apologised to Mr X for the problems with his waste collections. It also confirms:
    • A new waste transfer station has been created. Once operational this should speed up the process.
    • Crews now avoid missing the same roads consistently.
    • The last time Mr X’s road was missed for recycling collections was January, and there has been one missed collection logged by Mr X in February.
  3. While I understand Mr X’s dissatisfaction, the Council has explained the reasons for the previous missed recycling collections. It has apologised and has put in place changes to improve the service.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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