The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed waste collections. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The injustice to the complainant is not significant enough and it is unlikely an investigation would add anything to the Council’s responses.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complained about missed waste collections. Mr X wants compensation for each of the missed collections.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with 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, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Background
Since May 2022, Mr X has complained to the Council about missed waste collections from his home. The evidence I have seen shows four missed collections since May 2022. On three occasions the Council returned on either the same or the following day to collect the waste It has responded to Mr X’s complaints. It offered to extend his garden waste collection by two months to make up for the missed collections.
Mr X has previously complained to the Council about missed collections. The Council responded in August 2021. But those missed collections were more than 12 months ago. We will not therefore consider them as part of this complaint.
Assessment We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. We only look at the most serious. To decide which complaints to investigate we consider various tests. These include the injustice caused to the person complaining and what we could achieve.
Missed collections are annoying and frustrating. But we will not start an investigation into Mr X's complaint. This is because the Council arranged for Mr X’s bins to be quickly emptied on three of the days he reported problems. The injustice to Mr X is not therefore significant enough to warrant an investigation. The Council also carried out a period of monitoring and sent a supervisor to inspect the bins. It has ensured its crews are aware of Mr X’s property. It considered CCTV footage and offered to extend Mr X’s garden waste service.
We do not offer compensation but can recommend small token payments. However, it is unlikely that if we investigated, we would suggest a remedy in addition to what the Council has already provided. An investigation is not therefore appropriate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the injustice is not significant enough and it is unlikely an investigation would add anything to the Council’s responses.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman