Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to pay compensation. We have upheld part of the complaint, and the Council has agreed to take appropriate action. It would therefore not be proportionate to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to pay him compensation it had offered as part of its consideration of his complaint about his refuse and recycling. He said there has been a long delay in waiting for his compensation. He would like a further apology from the Council and further compensation for the delay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
4. 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

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council in January 2024 regarding two missed waste collections from his property.
8. In its August 2024 stage 2 complaint response, the Council apologised for the delayed response and offered Mr X £50 in compensation. It wrongly signposted Mr X to the Housing Ombudsman if he remained dissatisfied with his complaint.
9. Mr X contacted the Housing Ombudsman in late 2024 because he had not yet received the £50 compensation. They advised Mr X they could not consider his complaint and signposted Mr X to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
10. In response to our enquiries, the Council confirmed it had not yet made the £50 payment to Mr X.
11. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing injustice because the £50 remedy payment offered to Mr X in August 2024 was not paid for over 16 months. Mr X was also wrongly signposted to the Housing Ombudsman Service. This caused unnecessary delay in Mr X being able to raise his complaint with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. These matters caused Mr X unnecessary inconvenience.

Agreed Action

12. The Council agreed to resolve Mr X’s complaint by taking the following action within four weeks of our final decision:
1. write to Mr X to apologise for the delay in processing his remedy payment, and for incorrectly signposting him to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
2. provide evidence that the £50 remedy payment has been made to Mr X.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman