The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council damaged his bin and delayed investigating the matter. The claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council: damaged his bin during a collection in May 2025; failed to investigate the damage caused to his bin, including delays in the process.
Mr X said the matter caused him frustration and time and trouble to resolve. Mr X said the Council informed him he had to pay £32 for a replacement bin.
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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate this complaint. The primary issue is that Mr X said the Council damaged his bin during a collection which meant he had to pay £32 for a replacement. Mr X said the delay in responding to his concerns caused him uncertainty.
Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
The claimed injustice is not a significant enough injustice to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman, and so we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the claimed injustice is not significant enough.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman