The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a refuse operative kicking his food waste bin. This is because the matter did not cause Mr X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains a refuse collection operative kicked his food waste bin.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We do not start an investigation if we decide: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 that a refuse collection operative kicked his food waste bin during a refuse collection and did not put it back in place.
The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint. It spoke to the contractor and the crews were reminded of the correct method when moving refuse containers.
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because whilst I acknowledge Mr X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s response to his complaint, the matter has not caused him any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation by this office. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and we must focus our limited public resources on those complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice as a result of fault by a body in our jurisdiction.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter has not caused Mr X any significant personal injustice which is serious enough to merit an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman