The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council charging him for a replacement bin. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a meaningful outcome and Mr B has not suffered a serious injustice which would justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr B complains his garden waste bin was damaged by the Council’s bin lorry during collection. Mr B says his neighbours were provided with a free replacement bin when this happened to their bin, but the Council says he must pay for a replacement bin. Mr B says the Council has wrongly said the damage was caused by wear and tear, even though the bin has multiple long cracks which clearly would have been caused by a malfunction in the bin lorry.
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 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)) 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.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B considers the damage to his bin was caused by the Council’s refuse vehicle. The Council says there was no undue negligence and the bin lorry emptied the bin in the normal manner. The Council says Mr B’s bin is over five years old and the damage was the result of normal wear and tear. The Council says in such circumstances the resident is responsible for paying for a new bin.
We could start an investigation into what happened but I find this would not be a good use of our limited resources. It is unlikely an investigation would allow us to make sound findings about the cause of the damage to Mr B’s bin. And, the fee for a new bin is relatively modest - under £35. I recognise Mr B does not consider he should have to pay this fee. But, we must use public money carefully. I find the impact on Mr B is not so significant it would justify public money being spent on an investigation.
So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a meaningful outcome. And, Mr B has not suffered a serious injustice which would justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman