Mansfield District Council (26 011 283)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a missed bin collection. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council and because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant further investigation.
The complaint
- X complains that the Council refused to collect their bin because it incorrectly said it contained an electrical item. X say this happens quite regularly.
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, or
- we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation..
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council said that refuse workers did not collect X’s bin because it contained an electrical item. X disputed this. In dealing with X’s complaint, the Council said that in future it would photograph X’s bin if it identified contamination and make a return collection if it could not be proved that contamination had occurred.
- I will not investigate X’s complaint because I do not consider that the issue raised has caused them a significant injustice. Furthermore, the actions taken by the Council are appropriate and therefore investigation by the Ombudsman could not add to the one carried out by the Council.
Final decision
- We will not investigate X’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council and because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant further investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman