Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delays in the Council delivering an additional dustbin. Mr X has not suffered an injustice which meets the threshold for our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained he paid for an additional dustbin a year ago, and the Council have not yet delivered it.
2. Mr X said he therefore must take his additional waste to a waste facility.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X said he paid for an additional dustbin a year ago, and the Council has not yet delivered it to him.
7. In its complaint response the Council said it had an issue with dustbin stock which had impacted its ability to deliver Mr X’s additional dustbin.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. 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.
9. The available evidence suggests Mr X has not suffered an injustice which would meet the threshold for our involvement. I considered this because:

• Mr X waited a year before he raised his complaint with the Council, suggesting the matter is not significant;
• Mr X ordered an additional dustbin, which suggests he still has a dustbin he can use, and the Council are emptying; and
• The cost of the dustbin was £25.

10. For this reason, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered an injustice which meets the threshold for our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman