Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delay by the Council in sending the complainant’s garden waste permit. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council delayed sending his garden waste permit which meant he could not make use of the service for the whole subscription period. Mr X wants a refund and compensation to total £102.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X paid £62 on 16 September for the garden waste service. He should have received fortnightly collections until the end of March, from the date he received the permit. The Council aims to send permits within 14 days.
5. Mr X estimates he should have received the permit, and been able to use the service, from 8 October. However, due to Council delay, he did not receive the permit until 29 October, when an officer hand delivered it in response to his complaint. The Council emptied the bin on 30 October, before the next scheduled collection on 5 November. The Council apologised for the delay and said it had arranged the ad-hoc collection on 30 October. It declined Mr X’s request for a refund and compensation.
6. Mr X does a lot of gardening and often uses electrical equipment. He says that by the time he received the permit, it was too wet to safely use the equipment, so he was unable to make use of the service for the rest of the subscription period. He says he could have stockpiled waste from work done in October, and then used the bin over the winter, were it not for the delay. Mr X wants £102 in refunds and compensation.
7. I appreciate the delay was inconvenient and frustrating. However, the impact is not one that requires an investigation. There was, in effect, one missed collection, given the extra collection on 30 October; one missed collection does not represent a level of injustice which requires compensation or a refund. Mr X could have used the service from 30 October and, regardless of the delay, the extent to which he could garden would be weather dependant. In addition, while waiting for the permit, he could still have stockpiled waste, as he says he planned to do.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman