Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide her household with an additional general waste bin. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains the Council has refused her request for a second general waste bin for her property. Mrs B says the standard bin which is only collected every fortnight is not sufficient for her household, particularly because she has two children under the age of 2. Mrs B says this is causing her a lot of stress and she does not have the time to take rubbish to a refuse site. Mrs B would like the Council to provide her household with an additional bin until her children no longer use nappies.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 Mrs B and information on the Council’s website.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Councils have a duty to collect household waste free of charge, but they can decide how collections will work in their area. This can include imposing certain rules residents must follow and limiting the number of bins provided to residents.
6. The Council’s policy is to provide residents with one standard size general waste bin.
7. The Council will provide an additional bin if there is a medical issue which means a household creates additional domestic waste.
8. The Council’s decision to refuse Mrs B’s request for an additional bin was in line with this policy.
9. Mrs B disagrees with the Council’s policy and says a similar local authority provides two bins if a household has a child under the age of 5. But, it is for each local authority to decide how to operate refuse collections in its area. It is not our role to tell the Council it should operate its collections differently.
10. So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman