A dumped mattress caused so much dismay for one Kingston resident that he took his complaint all the way to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The resident told the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames council that the mattress had been dumped in a river in a council-run park and asked that it be removed.

But instead of sending a crew to remove the single mattress, the council argued it was not its responsibility and suggested the man contact the Environment Agency instead.

Despite further correspondence, the council maintained it had no responsibility to collect the mattress and told the man to complain to the Ombudsman. The man spent four months complaining to the council before coming to the Ombudsman, during which time the mattress remained a blight on the environment in the park.

The Ombudsman decided, based on government guidance, it was the council’s duty to remove the waste, as it was in ‘water on council land’.

The council has since removed the mattress.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“I am disappointed by the council’s inflexibility in this case, and quite astonished it has taken such a long time to put right what should have been a simple task to remove the mattress from the river, which is barely ankle deep.

“It absolutely should not have taken months of correspondence and our investigation for the council to realise it should act.

“Fly-tipping of this type is a blight on local communities and affects people using the park for leisure and exercise. People care about their local environment and this could, and should, have been easily addressed: I was surprised by the lack of value and pride the council appeared to put in maintaining the park that it provides for its residents at significant cost.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council should apologise to the man, remove the mattress from the river and circulate guidance to staff highlighting Government guidance on fly-tipped waste.

 

Article date: 07 August 2024