Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to collect his household waste because it believed it to be commercial waste. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to collect his household waste because it believed it was commercial waste. Mr X disputed this and said all the waste was from his household.
2. Mr X said the matter caused distress and led to waste building up at his home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X uses his home for both residential commercial purposes. He complained the Council refused to collect waste from his home because it believed Mr X gathered the waste during his commercial use of the property.
8. Mr X disputed the Council’s claim and said all the waste was household waste and therefore the Council should have collected it.
9. In response to Mr X’s complaint, a Council officer visited the property, alongside the waste collection team. Following this visit, the Council maintained its position that Mr X’s waste included commercial items and therefore it wouldn’t collect it. The Council took images of the waste it believed was commercial.
10. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. This duty does not extend to commercial waste, and the Council has discretion to refuse collection of waste it believes was gathered from commercial activities.
11. We are not an appeal body, and we cannot overturn the Council’s decision. We look at how the Council made its decision and whether there was any flaw in that decision-making. If there was no fault in the Council’s decision-making, we cannot question it.
12. The evidence at hand suggests we would not find fault by the Council and therefore we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman