Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed recycling and refuse collections. This is because there is insufficient injustice to warrant further investigation and we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to provide a reliable recycling and refuse service. He says the Council missed collections over several months.

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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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council did not collect his refuse and recycling over several months. He says catch-up collections did not take place.
6. Mr X complained to the Council in November 2025. He says the Council treated the issue as isolated incidents rather than part of a continuing problem and did not explain why collections were missed.
7. The Council apologised for the missed collections. It said they were due to operational issues and that it was monitoring the service to prevent further missed collections.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. I recognise the missed collections have caused some inconvenience and frustration. However, the Council has apologised for the missed collections and monitored them. There have been no missed collections since February 2026. Therefore, the claimed injustice is limited to the period between October 2025 and February 2026 .There is insufficient injustice to warrant further investigation.
9. In any event, Mr X wanted the Council to ensure the refuse and recycling collections were reliable and consistent. The Council has monitored his collections and there have been no further reports of missed collections since February 2026. Further investigation would not achieve anything more for Mr X.
10. 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 complaints 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

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant further investigation and we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman