Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about missed garden waste collections. This is because Mr B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr B says since the Council made changes to its refuse collection service he has had several missed garden waste collections. Mr B says the Council’s responses to his complaint were insincere and contradictory, and he does not consider the Council has taken his complaint seriously. Mr B is concerned there will be similar problems with this service in future.

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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))
3. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr B.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council introduced new refuse collection arrangements in May 2025. Mr B says his garden waste. which he pays the Council to collect, was not collected as scheduled on two or three occasions after this change.
7. In response to Mr B’s complaint, the Council said there had been vehicle breakdowns and staffing issues during this period which resulted in some missed collections. The Council said it is now running a normal service.
8. Mr B was caused some inconvenience by the missed collections. But, I find he has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman.
9. Mr B is not satisfied with the Council’s response to his complaint and is concerned there will be further missed collections. If this is the case, he may complain to the Council again, and if needed, complain to us. But, at the moment, the involvement of the Ombudsman is not justified.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he has not suffered a significant or serious injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman