Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about bin provision. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions, and it has not caused a significant enough personal injustice to warrant further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s refusal to give her a larger refuse bin due to her personal circumstances. She also says the Council wrongly removed an additional bin from her property.

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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

(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 X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X applied to the Council for a larger refuse bin for her family due to personal circumstances. She says the Council refused her application and said there were recyclable items in her waste, but it did not provide evidence for its decision. She says the Council then removed an extra bin that she had paid for.
6. The Council’s bin allocation policy is to provide each household with a 140-litre bin for non-recyclable waste. It gives larger bins to households with five or more occupants or where occupants have medical conditions that create excessive amounts of non-recyclable waste. The policy also says the Council can refuse a request for a larger bin if recyclable material is found in the refuse bin during a waste audit.
7. Mrs X complained to the Council after officers visited her property. The Council said it found recyclable material in the refuse bin during the waste audit. It therefore refused the request for additional capacity and removed the smaller additional bin. The larger 240 litre bin remained at the property.
8. We will not investigate this issue. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council. The Council considered Mrs X’s request for additional waste capacity, carried out a waste audit and explained why it refused the request. It is a matter for the Council to decide how best to manage its refuse services, including bin provision.
9. Mrs X also complains the Council removed an additional bin which she says she paid for and had used for six years. While I acknowledge Mrs X’s frustration, the Council left the 240-litre refuse bin at her property after removing the smaller additional bin. This meant the household had a larger refuse bin than the standard 140 litre bin provided under the Council’s policy. I am therefore not satisfised this caused Mrs X a significant enough personal injustice to warrant further investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions, and it has not caused a significant enough personal injustice to warrant further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman