Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s bin collection crew removing two rubbish bags from his bin and leaving them on his drive. This is because the matter did not cause Mr X significant injustice and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains a bin collection crew took bags from his bin and left them on his property. They were then ripped open by wildlife, causing further mess. Mr X says the Council should issue those responsible for leaving the rubbish on his drive with Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for littering or fly tipping. He is also unhappy about the handling of his complaint.

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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
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints. 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 injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
6. I appreciate Mr X was angry about picking up the rubbish and has a sense of unfairness that the Council may have issued FPNs or prosecuted members of the public, had they left bags of rubbish on the ground. But neither the act of doing so nor the Council’s decision not to take action against those responsible caused Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.
7. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not investigating the substantive issue. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the alleged injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman