The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about missed refuse collections resulting from strike action by the Council’s refuse collection crews. This is because the complaint is about an issue which affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area and the law does not allow us to investigate such matters.
The complaint
The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has failed to collect her household waste due to strike action by its collection crews. She also complains the Council has failed to explain how it has used its money during the strikes.
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.
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
From time to time councils may be affected by industrial strike action by its employees or contractors. It is not for us to comment on the rights and wrongs of such action and we cannot say councils must give in to the demands of those who choose to strike.
The strike in this case affects all or most of the residents in the Council’s area and Mrs X is affected by it in the same way as any other resident. The exclusion set out at Paragraph 3 therefore applies.
It is not in any event our role to audit the Council’s finances or spending. The amount of council tax used to pay for refuse collections is small and dealing with the backlog of refuse resulting from the strikes is likely to require additional resources and expenditure.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is about an issue which affects all or most of the people in the Council’s area.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman