The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking problems in Mr X’s area which he says are affecting the regular collection of his bins by the Council. This is because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has failed to take action to address problem parking in his area which can affect the ability of Council waste collection vehicles reaching his bins to empty them. He wants the Council to introduce double yellow lines to stop the parking and for it to stop referring him to the police about the inconsiderate parking.
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)
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 says the Council has told him that he should report cars parking where they should not at the junction of his road to the police. He says the police have told him this is a matter for the Council.
Mr X says he is affected by the inconsiderate parking when it prevents Council waste collection vehicles reaching his bins to empty them.
The Council has no record of any recent reports of bin collection problems from Mr X’s own address and says it would deal with such reports initially as a service request for a missed collection.
If Mr X is routinely having problems with the collection of his bins, he should report each issue with the Council using his name and address and, if the collection issue is not resolved, he can make a formal complaint to it. We would expect the Council to consider such a complaint and seek a resolution to the waste collection problem rather than just referring Mr X to the police if collections are being missed on a regular basis.
As Mr X has not recently made his own reports from his own address about missed collections to the Council, this should be his next move if the problems he is facing are ongoing. If, once he has done this and matters are not resolved, he can make his own complaint to the Council and come back to the Ombudsman if the problem remains outstanding.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman