Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about assisted bin collections. The complainant says she stored waste in her property for two weeks when she could not access her bin. Although this is unpleasant and inconvenience it is not enough injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms B said the Council failed to return her waste bin despite her having an assisted collection. Ms B said the bin remained in the road for nearly two weeks until a delivery driver returned it. Ms B said the Council lied about it and the single point of contact failed to reply. Ms B said she stored her rubbish in her house as she could not access her bin; this was stressful and smelly. Ms B wants a different point of contact to report concerns.

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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 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 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.
6. Ms B has assisted collections, so the Council should collect her bin and return it to the same point. Ms B said this did not happen so she could not access her bin. Although it was unpleasant and inconvenient to store waste for two weeks, this is not enough injustice to justify investigation. The Council apologised to Ms B for any failures in service.
7. At the time, the Council had in place a single point of contact for Ms B to report any concerns. The Council no longer has in place a single point of contact for Ms B, so she can report any future issues with her bin collections in the normal ways.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because there is not enough injustice to justify our continued involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman