The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs X complained that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council routinely failed to collect her recycling. The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s recycling on the scheduled day amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complained that although she should receive assisted collections, the Council routinely failed to collect her recycling. Mrs X also complained the Council incorrectly recorded a clearance collection on 24 June 2021, which she states it did not make. Mrs X is unable to dispose of the uncollected recycling herself and had had to store surplus recycling in her porch or dispose of it in her household waste.
Mrs X complains that despite the Council’s repeated assurances that crews would be reminded, and her recycling would be collected, the problem has continued.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
As part of the investigation, I have: considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X; made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided; discussed the issues with Mrs X; Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
Refuse and recycling collections Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
When a resident reports a missed collection, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the Council has completed the collection, it closes the report.
What happened here Mrs X should receive an assisted collection service. She states her household waste and garden waste are routinely collected without problem, but the Council repeatedly failed to collect her recycling in 2021.
The Council’s records show Mrs X reported 11 missed collections between April and October 2021. The reports are all closed which indicates the Council has since made the missed collections. However, the dates these reports were closed are inconsistent and do not suggest the Council made all the collections in a timely manner.
For example, Mrs X reported a missed collection on 21 August 2021, which the Council closed on 14 September 2021, the next scheduled collection. However, Mrs X reported the collection due on 14 September 2021 as missed. The Council then closed the report of 14 September 2021 on 28 September 2021, yet Mrs X also complained that the collection scheduled for 28 September 2021 was missed. If the Council had completed the missed collections as its records suggest, Mrs X would not have needed to report further missed collections.
Similarly, Mrs X reported missed collections on 12 October and 26 October 2021, which the Council closed on 28 October and 9 November 2021 respectively. It is unclear why, if the Council made a collection on 28 October 2021 it did not close both reports that day.
In addition to reporting missed collections, Mrs X also made formal complaint. In June 2021 she complained the Council had failed to collect her recycling on three of the last five scheduled collection days. The crew had almost missed a further collection, but she had been able to get their attention and a crew member returned to collect her recycling. Having submitted her complaint, Mrs X notified the Council the crew had missed another collection on 22 June 2021.
The Council’s response stated that where a collection is missed the Council will aim to clear the waste on the next available opportunity. If this is not possible, it will collect a reasonable amount of excess waste on the next scheduled day. The Council noted its system showed it had collected the missed recycling on 24 June 2021. The Council also confirmed it had notified the depot of the problem and they would deal with the individuals concerned.
Mrs X disputed the Council had collected the missed recycling on 24 June 2021 and provided photos showing the unemptied bin. She asked the Council to address the false claim. As the Council then missed a further recycling collection, Mrs X also asked for her complaint to be reviewed.
The Council apologised for the continued poor service and confirmed it had raised the error regarding a collection on 24 June 2021 with the depot manager. It also confirmed the depot manager would speak to the recycling crew and remind them of their obligation regarding assisted collections. It anticipated this would lead to an improvement in service.
As the problem of missed collections continued, Mrs X made a further complaint to the Council in October 2021. She felt the failure to collect her recycling went beyond a mistake or incompetence and was a wilful refusal to provide the assisted collection service. She asserted it was disability discrimination. She noted she was unable to report a missed collection on 29 September 2021 as a note on the Council’s system stated she had not put her bin out. As Mrs X receives assisted collections she is not expected to put her bin out. She questioned why this noted had been added. Mrs X told the Council she had now complained to the Ombudsman.
There is no record of the Council’s response to Mrs X’s further complaint, but it monitored Mrs X’s recycling collections between October and December 2021. Mrs X has confirmed this led to an improvement in service.
In response to my enquiries the Council states Mrs X’s street does not have a fixed recycling collection round which means crew membership is inconsistent. The Council states it runs an assisted collection report at the start of each month with an updated list of all assisted collections. It then manually adds properties to each depot’s hard drive so they can print off and add this to crew information packs. Assisted collection properties also appear on the crew’s mobile technology. It has confirmed that Mrs X has assisted collection status. It suggests it is possible the assisted collection list was not always followed as closely as it should have been.
The Council notes Mrs X’s collections have stabilised since November 2021 and she has not reported any further missed recycling collections.
Analysis It is clear from the Council’s records that it has repeatedly failed to collect Mrs X’s recycling. These failings in the service amount to fault.
The Council’s records of Mrs X’s reported missed collections, when it subsequently made the collections, and then closed the reports are incomplete and inconsistent. I do not therefore consider them to be a reliable indicator of the extent of the problem. It is also concerning that the Council appears to have closed a report of a missed collection when it had not collected the recycling.
The Council has confirmed Mrs X is registered for assisted collections and this should be recorded on mobile technology within the collection vehicles and in the crew packs. It should therefore be clear to whichever crew is assigned to collect the recycling from Mrs X’s street that she should receive assisted collections.
I also consider there to be fault in the way the Council has dealt with Mrs X’s complaints.
Despite the Council’s assurances it had reminded the crew members and regular collections would be made, the service did not improve, and the missed collections continued.
Mrs X had to make a further complaint and the service only improved following the Council’s monitoring of collections between October and December 2021. Had the Council properly considered Mrs X’s initial complaint I consider this matter could have been resolved sooner.
Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. Mrs X is unable to dispose of the uncollected recycling herself and had to find ways to manage the uncollected waste left at her property. She has also experienced frustration and disappointment, both with the missed collections and the Council’s failure to resolve the problem. Mrs X has been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
Agreed action
The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £200 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to make regular assisted recycling collections has caused.
The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.
Final decision
The Council’s repeated failure to collect Mrs X’s recycling on the scheduled day amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman