Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s assisted refuse and recycling collections not being carried out properly. The Council has taken action which is a satisfactory way to address the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council repeatedly failed to carry out her assisted refuse and recycling bin collections for over a year, and often did not return her bin to the agreed location.
2. Miss X says she panics about what will happen on each collection day, and relies on family members to dispose of the uncollected waste and to return her bin to the correct location. She has also spent time and effort on reporting the missed collections and complaining to the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We can investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. So, we may decide not to start 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In response to Miss X’s Stage 2 complaint, the Council:
• Apologised for failing to previously acknowledge/respond to Miss X’s Stage 2 complaint, and offered a £100 payment in recognition of the time and effort Miss X was put to in pursuing the matter.
• Apologised for the problems Miss X has experience with her assisted collections, and offered a £150 payment in recognition of the stress and uncertainty this caused.
• Explained the service had been experiencing difficulties across the city, but it was currently making changes to improve the situation. This included:
• Improving the digital systems it uses, so that residents can see the status of their collection online, and refuse crews can see within their vehicle which properties have been missed and which receive assisted collections.
• Putting plans in place to address vehicle reliability issues, which should help to increase the number of vehicles available to carry out collections.
• Reviewing the current allocation of work to the crews, to ensure a more reliable collection service occurs in the future.
7. With reference to paragraph 3 above, these financial payments and service improvements are a satisfactory way to address the complaint, so we will not start an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has taken satisfactory action in response to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman