Summary: Mr X says the Council missed recycling collections and failed to deal with fly tipping and overgrown vegetation near his home. He says this blocked access to his home and distressed him. Mr X also says the Council did not properly handle his blue badge application which distressed him. The Council was at fault. The Council delayed dealing with the overgrown vegetation. This frustrated Mr X. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X. We have not investigated Mr X’s complaint about his blue badge application because we have investigated this as a separate complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council missed recycling collections and failed to deal with fly tipping and overgrown vegetation near to his property. He says this blocked access to his property and distressed him. He also says the Council did not properly handle his blue badge application which distressed him.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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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What I have and have not investigated

4. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint about his Blue Badge application. The Ombudsman has investigated this as a separate complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

Background information

8. 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.
9. Fly-tipping is illegal dumping of liquid or solid waste on land or in water. The Government says a council must assess and investigate fly tipping incidents on council land and remove the fly tipped waste. It must also consider taking enforcement action against the perpetrators. Councils can choose whether to investigate reports of fly-tipped waste on privately owned land.
10. A council has a responsibility under the Highways Act 1980 to ensure the public can use the rights of way network within the area it covers (county or unitary area). This includes a responsibility to clear excess vegetation from the surface of a route (section 154). The Council should begin by asking the landowner to clear the obstruction. The penalty for non-compliance can include removal of the obstruction by the council, with reasonable costs being recovered from the offender.

What happened

11. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
12. In December 2024 Mr X told the Council overgrown bushes were obstructing a public right of way near his home.
13. In March 2025 Mr X reported two incidents of missed recycling collections to the Council. He then complained to the Council about the missed recycling collections, the overgrown vegetation obstructing the nearby right of way and fly tipping close to his home.
14. At the beginning of April 2025 the Council collected Mr X’s outstanding recycling bags and instructed its recycling crew not to miss future collections. The Council then contacted Mr X to ask if the right of way was still overgrown. He confirmed it was.
15. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint saying it had collected the outstanding recycling and instructed staff to prevent future missed collections. It said it was identifying the owner of the land where the overgrown vegetation was coming from and would then take appropriate action. It also said it was often difficult to identify fly tipping perpetrators, but it was targeting hot spots with regular rubbish clearances.
16. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s complaint response and escalated it a few days later. He said the Council had implied the overgrown vegetation came from his property and had not tackled nearby fly tipping and missed bin collections obstructing access to his home. He said he wanted the Council to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras near his home.
17. Later in April 2025, the Council identified the owner of the land where the overgrown vegetation was coming from. It sent a section 154 highways notice to the owner to cut back the vegetation. The Council told Mr X it had issued the notice to the landowner
18. In May 2025 Mr X contacted the Council saying he had concerns about the section 154 notice. He said the overgrown vegetation was not within his property boundary and the notice caused confusion and distress.
19. The landowner did not reply to the Council. The Council arranged for the vegetation to be cut back and updated Mr X.
20. In June 2025 the Council issued its stage two complaint response. It said the vegetation had been cut back and it was working to resolve fly-tipping problems. It said it had told Mr X CCTV cameras were not an option due to no power supply.
21. At the beginning of July 2025, the Council told Mr X it was closing his case because all works had been done. It confirmed it had served no notice on Mr X during the process and had issued notices to the owner of the land where the overgrown vegetation was coming from.
22. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Mr X would like the Council to apologise, install CCTV cameras, confirm the obstructing vegetation was not his responsibility and flag his property on the waste collection route.
23. In response to my enquiries, the Council said Mr X had reported two missed refuse collections from September 2024 onwards and had not reported any specific fly tipping incidents or blocked access. It said it had put on extra waste collection services to remove fly tips in the local area and would not install CCTV cameras due to lack of power supply. It also said it had cut back the nearby overgrown vegetation after it contacted the landowner.

My findings

24. Mr X reported two missed collections to the Council in March 2025. The Council followed up the missed collections in March 2025 and took action to prevent further missed collections. There is no evidence of other missed collections at Mr X’s address and nothing to suggest a wider problem with his waste collection. The Council was not at fault.
25. Mr X complained to the Council about fly tipping near his home. There is no record of him reporting any specific fly tipping incidents to the Council. There is no record of Mr X reporting any incidents of waste blocking access to his property. The Council put measures in place to address fly tipping in Mr X’s local area. The Council was entitled to make a decision not to install CCTV cameras. The Council was not at fault.
26. In December 2024 Mr X told the Council about overgrown vegetation causing an obstruction near his property. The Council did not take action until four months later, in April 2025. This delay was fault, frustrating Mr X.
27. I have seen no evidence the Council claimed Mr X owned the site of the vegetation. The Council identified the site owner and issued a notice to cut it back. Within a month, the Council arranged to cut back the vegetation. The Council was not at fault.

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Action

28. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mr X by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr X for the frustration caused by the delay in taking action on the overgrown vegetation. 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.
29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. I have completed my investigation. I found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman