Cheshire East Council (25 023 836)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to pay for a replacement refuse bin. The level of injustice caused to the complainant by the alleged fault is not significant enough to warrant our continued involvement in the matter.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council should pay for a replacement refuse bin after his was damaged during extremely windy conditions, as the crew left the bin out on an exposed pavement instead of returning it to the more sheltered collection point.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, as well as the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
- The cost of a replacement bin in this case is £36. This is a relatively modest amount and does not justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the level of injustice caused by the alleged fault is not significant enough to warrant our continued involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman