Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the noise created by the Council’s glass recycling collection. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and insufficient personal injustice to warrant further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council collecting glass at 6am. He says it is noisy and wakes his family before a reasonable hour.

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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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6.  Mr X says the Council carries out noisy glass collections at 6am and gave incorrect information about the guidance allowing this. He complained to the Council.
7. The Council told Mr X that glass collections are scheduled every 8 weeks, and it uses smaller bins to limit noise during collection and carries out noise monitoring. It explained why it is not operationally possible to adjust collection times for individual households.
8. There is no regulation about what time waste collections should take place. The Council requires glass bins to be placed on the pavement from 6am onwards and explained why it cannot adjust collection times. I understand Mr X is concerned by the noise. However, this is not evidence of fault by the Council. The Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants of the Council adjusting its collection times.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
10. In any event, the personal injustice claimed is not significant enough to warrant further investigation. I recognise noisy glass collections cause some frustration. However, the Council collects glass every 8 weeks.
11. Mr X 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 complaint 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

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and insufficient personal injustice to warrant further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman