Birmingham City Council (25 024 878)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not taking appropriate action against his neighbour who is misusing their household bins. This is because any personal injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council failed to take appropriate action in response to his concerns about a neighbour misusing their household bins. He wants the Council to take enforcement action against his neighbour or allow all households to dispose of the same types of waste in their bins.
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. 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X said he reported to the Council on several occasions that his neighbour is disposing of building materials in their bins. He said the Council’s refuse team have warned his neighbour on several occasions about them using their bins inappropriately however other times, they have not said anything about it. Mr X said the Council has refused to take enforcement action against his neighbour.
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. We recognise Mr X is frustrated with the matter however, any personal injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any personal injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman