The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about household waste collections. This is because an investigation would unlikely add to the Council’s response or lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complains that bin collections were missed over a one-month period and that the Council subsequently removed bins from his property.
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: 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), 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 reported several missed collections over a one-month period. The Council subsequently removed all but one of his general waste bins saying that residents are only permitted a maximum of two of these bins and that Mr X would need to apply for the second additional bin.
In responding to Mr X’s concerns about missed collections the Council apologised and said this was due to a new route and that the crew would be spoken too. In responding to Mr X’s complaint about the removal of the bins the Council apologised and agreed that two additional bins were needed so arranged delivery of two general waste bins.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. I understand his frustrations about the missed collections and how the removal of his bins was handled. But we do not investigate every complaint we receive. We are funded by the public purse and have an obligation to use our limited resources in an effective, efficient, and economic manner. This means that we will generally not investigate where an investigation is unlikely to add anything to the one already undertaken by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome. That applies here as our intervention would not achieve anything more for Mr X. An investigation is not therefore warranted.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because doing so would not add to the investigation carried out by the Council or achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman