Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council refuse collections. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council only completed a refuse collection twice over a ten-week period. She said she reported each missed collection and received no response.
2. She also complained the Council delayed responding to her complaint.
3. She said it caused frustration her and her neighbours. She wants a response to her complaint, an explanation and reassurance missed collections will not happen again.

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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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Ms X complained the Council did not collect waste from her property for four weeks. In its response the Council explained this was due to road works happening at the time of the missed collections. It said when the bin area was obstructed waste crews were unable to access it. It apologised for the inconvenience caused to Ms X and acknowledged communication had been poor regarding organising further collections.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council explained the reason it missed collections and confirmed collections had resumed as usual. Therefore, further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
10. Ms X complained the Council delayed responding to her complaint. The Council apologised for its delay in responding at stage one. Ms X escalated her complaint to stage two through the Ombudsman and received a response. Although there was a delay in the Council’s complaint process, there is not enough injustice in the complaint handling alone to justify investigating.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman