Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about a garden waste issue. This is because the matter complained about has not caused Miss X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation. Also, it is unlikely we could add to the response already provided via the Council’s own investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has collected some neighbours’ garden waste despite them not paying for this year’s subscription.

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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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X subscribes to the Council’s garden waste service. This is an optional service with an annual cost of £47.50.
7. Miss X complained to the Council, shortly after this year’s subscription period started, that it had collected garden waste from some nearby properties despite the bins not displaying this year’s subscription sticker. Miss X said this was unfair as it appeared she could also have received the service without paying for it and she could have put the money to better use.
8. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint and took action to resolve and prevent the issue from continuing. This included: a supervisor attending collections to check that bins presented for collection have the current subscription sticker; removal of any bins presented for collection without the relevant sticker; retraining of crews and regular reminders to crews of the issue so that only bins presented with the current subscription sticker have their garden waste collected. It also wrote to the residents reminding them that bins presented for collection without the correct sticker will be removed.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter complained about has not caused Miss X any significant personal injustice which is so serious that it warrants the use of limited public funds to carry out a further investigation. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and we must focus our limited public resources on investigating those complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice as a result of fault by a body in our jurisdiction. This is not the case here.
10. Further to this, the Council is taking a number of measures so that anyone who has not paid for the service this year will not continue to receive it. There is nothing further we would add or recommend were we to also investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matter complained about has not caused her any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant a further investigation by this office and we could not add to the response the Council has already provided.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman