The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the delivery of new recycling bins. This is because the matter has not caused Mr X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to merit an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complained he was woken at 6:30 am, following a night shift, by the Council’s contractors delivering new recycling bins to his road. He also complained his bin was damaged.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council after he was woken at 6:30am, following a night shift, by loud banging when the Council’s contractors were delivering new recycling bins. Mr X also complained his bin was damaged due to the way it was delivered.
The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint. It apologised for waking him during the delivery and offered to either repair or replace his bin.
Mr X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s response. He wants it to take further action to resolve his complaint.
Whilst I acknowledge Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint, there is no significant remaining injustice caused to Mr X which is serious enough to merit an investigation by this office. We do not investigate every complaint we receive. We must focus our limited resources on those complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice as a result of fault.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter complained about has not caused him any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to merit an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman