North Somerset Council (26 006 226)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about missed recycling collections because he has not suffered a significant injustice.
The complaint
- Mr B complains there were two missed recycling collections on his road earlier in the year due to access issues and the Council did not return to collect this waste within the Council’s two week timeframe. Mr B says for two weeks waste was left in the street. Mr B would like the Council to issue a council tax refund to all affected residents who paid for a service they did not receive.
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 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))
- 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 by an organisation.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We do not expect councils to pay a financial remedy for a single missed waste collection or a limited number of missed collections. Councils do not give council tax refunds for missed collections and we do not expect them to.
- I find Mr B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation or the pursuit of a financial remedy by the Ombudsman. So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman