The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Miss X complained the Council has routinely failed to collect the recycling from her block of flats since 2021. As Miss X’s flat is located next to the bin store she has experienced problems with smell and concerns about rodents and pests from the accumulated recycling. The Council’s failure to collect the recycling from Miss X’s block of flats amounts to fault. This fault has caused Miss X an injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X complained the Council routinely fails to collect the recycling from her block of flats. Miss X complained the Council did not collect the recycling at all for most of 2021. It then made one collection following her complaint but has then failed to collect the recycling in 2022. As Miss X’s flat is located next to the bin store she has experienced problems with smell and concerns about rodents and pests from the accumulated recycling.
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 an organisation’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 Miss X; made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided; discussed the issues with Miss X; Miss 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.
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 Miss X complains that although the Council collects the household waste from her block of flats as scheduled, it routinely fails to collect the recycling. She states this was a problem through out 2021 and she repeatedly reported it to both the Council and her housing association. Miss X states she did not report all of the missed recycling collections.
According to the Council’s records Miss X has reported three missed recycling collections since January 2021. These were in September, October, and November 2021. There are more than 15 flats in Miss X’s block and the Council states Miss X is the only resident to report any missed collections since January 2021.
Miss X also made a formal complaint about missed collections in November 2021. She complained the recycling had not been collected for almost 12 months. She stated she had repeatedly reported the problem to her housing association and the Council and they each referred her back to the other. Miss X was unhappy the Council had not resolved the problem and asked for the bins to be collected consistently and for compensation for herself and the other residents.
The Council apologised for the poor service and confirmed it had made a manager aware of Miss X’s complaint. It explained it had been experiencing operational issues which had impacted collections across the city. The Council stated it had plans in place to ensure collections were not missed going forward.
Miss X was not satisfied by the Council’s response and did not consider her collections were missed due to operational issues as refuse collectors were regularly in her area, they just did not collect the recycling from her block of flats.
Miss X had also contacted the collection depot directly. She has provided copies of her email exchange with the depot in late November 2021 in which an officer states they had spoken to the crew who were unsure where the bins were stored. The officer asked Miss X to confirm where the bins were and whether the crew needed an access code to gain entry. Miss X provided this information and confirmed the door to the bin storage was not locked.
The Council reviewed Miss X’s complaint in January 2022. It confirmed it had passed the details to the depot manager and asked that they check the area and ensure all collections are made. The Council noted Miss X had not reported a missed collection since November 2021. It asked Miss X to report any further missed collections via the official process and provided the telephone number and website details.
The Council’s records show the crew confirmed they had collected the recycling from Miss X’s block as scheduled the previous week.
Miss X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s response and states the missed collections have continued. She thinks the housing association may have reduced some of the excess but states the Council has not made any regular recycling collections.
In response to my enquiries the Council states the missed collections in October, November and December were due to COVID related absences. It does not consider there was a repeated failure to collect the recycling. The Council has checked with the three Assistant Service Managers at the deport, all of whom confirm they have not had any dealings with Miss X’s housing association in relation to the recycling collections.
Analysis It is clear from the documentation available that there have been issues with the recycling collections from Miss X’s block of flats which would amount to fault.
The Council states Miss X has only reported three missed collections while Miss X states there were missed collections for over a year. I am unable to confirm the exact number of missed collections, but if the collection crews did not know where the bins were stored it is likely there were other missed collections. Equally, if the recycling collections were routinely missed for over a year I would have expected other residents in the block to complain about the failings in service.
Miss X acknowledges she did not report all of the missed collections to the Council and the documentation shows she also contacted the deport directly regarding at least one missed collection. There is no evidence of repeated missed collection over an extended period, but I consider it likely that the Council missed more than three recycling collections.
The location of Miss X’s property on the ground floor means that she is particularly affected by smells and problems associated with accumulated waste when collections are missed. She has also been put to time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.
Agreed action
The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration, difficulties the failure to make 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 failure to collect the recycling from Miss X’s block of flats amounts to fault. This fault has caused Miss X an injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman