Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about charging for replacement bins. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to charge, nor a significant enough injustice, to justify an Ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr C says the Council is wrong to ask him to pay for replacement bins at his property, as there were no bins when he moved in. Mr C says the Council has wrongly dealt with his complaint as it will not respond at stage two. Mr C wants the Council to provide free replacement bins or provide them at a reduced cost.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. If a bin is missing or damaged you can ask the Council for a new one, but the replacement is charged for. The fact Mr C’s bins were missing when he moved in is not caused by fault of the Council and is not a reason for the Council to provide free replacements.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. We cannot challenge the Council’s decision unless there is fault in its decision making. In this case, I am satisfied the Council has taken the right steps in considering relevant information and policy. I understand Mr C disagrees and is concerned by the cost of replacing the missing bins. However, this is not evidence of fault in the Council’s decision or the way it has investigated.
8. 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. The cost of replacing the missing bins is minimal and we would not consider it enough injustice to justify our resource.
9. Mr C is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault or injustice to justify our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman