Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed bin collections. This is because there is not enough injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr B says the Council has not collected his bins regularly, even when he is presenting them to the right place. Mr B feels anxious and targeted, as says the Council has collected neighbours’ bins but left his. Mr B says the Council ignores his correspondence. Mr B wants the Council to empty his bins on time.

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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, 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 may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), 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. 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.
7. When it comes to waste collections, mistakes can happen, and from time-to-time most people will have a missed collection. We would not normally investigate complaints where there have only been a couple of missed collections or one-off problems. So, we will not investigate Mr B’s complaint, because although we understand it is frustrating, the injustice caused is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement in the case.
8. The Council has acknowledged fault, apologised to Mr B and taken action to put things right. We are satisfied with these actions, and it is unlikely we would add anything significantly different. Mr B says the problems are continuing even though he is putting the bin where the Council has said. The Council says the bin is not in the correct place when the crews have visited and when they have returned to complete a missed collection. This is one person’s word against another and unlikely the Ombudsman could resolve this issue. The Council has provided Mr B with a map of where the bins need to be and might want to consider overseeing the crews for a set time.
9. Mr B 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 B’s complaint because there is not enough injustice to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman