Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of his relatives that the Council wrongly refused to provide larger refuse bins based on inaccurate information. He also complained the Council failed to escalate his concerns. We found fault in the Council’s decision-making process. This caused undue distress to Mr X and his relatives. The Council has agreed actions to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X applied for 2 x 360 litre refuse bins for his relatives who had excess waste due to medical needs. The Council refused his request based on assessments made during bin collections. Mr X complained the assessment reports were inaccurate and misrepresented the amount of waste collected. He reported his concerns of inaccuracy but says Council failed to escalate matters. He says this caused undue distress during a difficult time as he had to dispose of the waste himself due to bins not being large enough.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Policy and guidance

6. 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.
7. The Council’s guidance states that households can apply for a larger refuse bin if they meet specific criteria. The relevant thresholds include:
• Four or more people living at the property, OR
• At least three people living at the property, including someone who uses nappies or incontinence pads.
8. The Council separately provides a clinical and medical waste collection service for households that produce specialised waste, for example, sharps or clinical/infectious waste. The application for this service must be supported by a healthcare professional’s evidence and may require a waste assessment visit.
9. The application form includes explicit options to request larger refuse bins (e.g., 240 litre or 360 litre) where standard capacity is insufficient due to waste generated including where such waste arises from clinical or offensive waste that cannot be disposed of through standard weekly collections.
10. The Council’s policy does not provide an automatic entitlement to additional refuse capacity. However, decisions must be based on accurate information, proper assessment, and a fair application of the Council’s criteria.

What happened

11. Mr X applied for larger refuse bins for his relatives with medical needs. The Council conducted visits in April 2025 and found the 240-litre bin was overflowing. It decided to increase the bin size to a 360-litre bin. Mr X made another request in May 2025 to have 2 x 360 litre bins, but the Council considered 2 x 240 litre bins to be sufficient and recovered the 360-litre bin it previously gave.
12. Mr X complained to the Council this was still insufficient, and that the Council did not properly consider the evidence he provided which showed how quickly the bins get full. The Council responded to his complaint that it properly considered his application based on numerous visit assessments and considered the current bin capacity to be enough. It said in its Stage 1 response the latest visit made in early June 2025 found one bin to be empty.
13. Mr X reviewed his own CCTV footage which made him believe the assessment made in early June 2025 was based on inaccurate information. The footage shows the waste collection officer collecting 2 x 240 litre bins, both containing waste. The officer emptied one bin and then took photos midway of the emptied bin and the full bin and sent this to the waste management team. The Council’s visit report said it found one empty bin and one full bin that was collected during the visit.
14. Mr X raised his concerns and complained about the officer’s actions to the Council in late June 2025. There is no evidence the Council formally escalated or provided a response to this.

What I found

15. The latest visit report made in early June 2025 was a misrepresentation of events as the video evidence shows both bins contained waste and both were emptied. The Council relied upon inaccurate information when making the decision not to provide 2 x 360 litre bins. There is fault in the decision-making process. There is no evidence the Council reconsidered the decision or investigated the matter when Mr X raised concerns about the misrepresentation in late June 2025.
16. This caused undue distress and frustration to Mr X and relatives whilst they were already going through a difficult time.

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Action

17. Within one month of our final decision, the Council will:
• Apologise to Mr X for the faults identified in this decision statement. 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.
• Pay £400 to Mr X for the undue distress caused by the fault in the Council’s actions.
• Reconsider Mr X’s application for larger bins based on accurate information. If the Council rejects Mr X’s request, it should provide a clear explanation of how it made its decision.
18. Within 12 weeks of our final decision, the Council will:
• Review waste collection visit guidance to require any photographic evidence of bins for capacity or entitlement decisions to be taken before any bins are emptied.
19. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

20. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman