Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s provision of waste containers for recycling. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to provide her with a wheeled bin for card and paper recycling collection. She says that she finds the current sacks provided by the Council insufficient and wants a wheeled bin which she can store outside her home.

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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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X says the current waste collection system operated by the Council is unsuitable for her. She says the sacks provided for the card and paper are insufficient and if she orders more there will be no space to store them in her house. She says she produces a lot of waste material and she wants the Council to provide a wheeled bin for this so that she can store it outside.
6. The Council operates different waste collection systems in different parts of its area following the replacement of 3 former councils with a single authority. It told Ms X that households who qualify for a larger bin can apply if they meet the requirements. Ms X says she already has a larger 240 litre bin but says she needs a recycling bin. She also says that the Council does not provide a garden refuse service in her area.
7. The provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 allow councils to decide what type of containers should be used for waste collection and where it should be collected from. There is no general provision of wheeled bins for waste card in Ms X’s area. The Council does not provide garden waste collections for much of its area. This is a discretionary service and many councils do not provide it. Authorities which do so can make an individual charge for this additional service.
8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s provision of waste containers for recycling. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman