The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed bin collections because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council has apologised and taken steps to prevent future problems.
The complaint
Mr C complains about missed bin collections. Mr C finds it inconvenient when his bin is missed, and he must contact the Council to action collection. Mr C wants the Council to apologise and credit his council tax bill.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council accepts it has missed at least four of Mr C’s bin collections over the last year, and has apologised to Mr C. The Council has reminded relevant staff of their responsibilities and put a supervisor on the round for the collections following the complaint response to ensure they were completed. The Council will keep written records of collections so can be accurate in complaint responses. This is because when it first responded to Mr C it gave wrong information which further frustrated him.
I recognise there was fault by the Council which has caused Mr C injustice. The Council has taken appropriate action to acknowledge this. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman