Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the frequency he can visit a Council household waste recycling site. There is not enough significant injustice to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly restricts residents disposing of small DIY waste to one visit a week to a household waste recycling site (HWRC) instead of allowing four visits at any time in a four week period which he says is in line with the relevant legislation.
2. He says that as a result, he has to wait seven days for repeat trips whenever he has more than two bags of waste.
3. He wants the Council to modify the booking system to meet current legislation which states householders should be allowed to have a free visit four times in a month, as opposed to once in a week.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. The Courts have confirmed the Ombudsman’s wide discretion about whether or not to investigate a complaint or part of a complaint made to us.
8. We will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe that the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice, such as serious loss, harm, or distress, as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the service provider.
9. We may consider investigating where there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower level injustice that remain unresolved over a long period of time.
10. Although Mr X may find it frustrating that he can make only visit a week to dispose of minor DIY waste, this is not enough to trigger either definition of significant injustice as defined in the two paragraphs above.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough significant injustice to warrant our involvement.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman