The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in providing a larger bin. The Council has now delivered the bin and we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome by investigating further.
The complaint
Mr X complained that he asked for a larger bin after moving to a new property but, four months later, had still not received it. This meant that he had to make trips to the local tip to dispose of incontinence pads for a family member.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained the Council had not provided a larger bin four months after he asked for it. The Council told Mr X that a larger bin had been ordered and would be delivered as soon as stock arrived. The Council told us it has now delivered the larger bin.
Although the delay has caused some frustration to Mr X, the matter has now been resolved and appears to be due, in part, to supply issues outside the Council’s control. In the circumstances, it is unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome by further investigation. Therefore, we will not investigate further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome by doing so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman