Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed bin collections. This is because the number of missed collections does not cause significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to carry out weekly refuse collections at his block of flats. He said this caused a build-up of waste and problems with vermin and flies. He wants the Council to reinstate weekly collections.

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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. Mr X complained the Council appeared to have stopped weekly refuse collections, although recycling and food waste collections continued. He said the flat block has limited space and cannot accommodate wheelie bins, so fortnightly refuse collections are unsuitable. He also said the Council had not told residents about any change to the service.
6. The Council apologised to Mr X and told him small flat blocks should still receive weekly collections. It blamed operational confusion on the mix-up and told crews to resume weekly collections.
7. Mr X says despite this response the Council continued to miss weekly collections. He said collection vehicles passed the property without collecting waste. He complained again to the Council.
8. The Council met with Mr X, apologised, arranged for crews to collect the built-up waste, and assured him that weekly collections would continue unless it gave written notice of any future changes. Mr X says that despite these assurances, his collections are still being missed.
9. We asked the Council how many collections it had missed, and it told us it had missed four collections since July 2025
10. We do not normally investigate complaints about a small number of missed refuse collections. No service is perfect and where collections are missed, we would expect residents to report them and give the Council an opportunity to put things right in the first instance. Where this has also failed, and in the event these failures are consistent and ongoing, we may investigate. But in this case the missed collections have been minimal in the last six month, so the injustice is not significant for us to investigate.
11. We will not investigate this complaint because Mr X has not suffered a significant injustice. We have limited resources and will only investigate the most serious complaints that have caused serious loss, harm or distress.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about missed bin collections. This is because the number of missed collections does not cause significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman