The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council continuing to fail to collect Mr X’s bins and the poor handling of his reports. This is because we cannot investigate issues that affect all or most residents in the area, and it is not proportionate to investigate the communication issues on its own.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council continuing to fail to collect his bins and the Council’s poor handling of his reports. He says the recurring delays have led to an accumulation of waste on his property. Mr X is seeking financial redress for his time and trouble, service reliability guarantee and a refund.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council said due to a fire at a transfer station nearby which closed in August 2025, this has caused disruptions to bin collections. It said residents were informed of the issue and if bins were not collected, they would be collected the following day. As outlined in paragraph three, we cannot investigate something which affects all or most people in a council’s area.
While Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council has handled his reports, it is not a good use of public resources to look at the complaints or communication issues if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it affects all or most residents in the area.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman