Mrs X complained that despite previous complaints submitted to the Council, and monitoring put in place, waste was still not being collected regularly at her father, Mr Y’s, address. He had an arranged Assisted Lift Collection service in place.
The Ombudsman was concerned about the continued missed collections that had been ongoing for a number of years, despite going through the complaints procedure and actions previously put in place, and that Mrs X and Mr Y, had been inconvenienced by the Council’s actions. He decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to undertake the following actions: • Provide Mrs X with a written apology for the continuing issues and having to bring her complaint to the Ombudsman.
• Request that the supervisors place Mr Y’s address on the monitoring sheets for the next 5 collections.
• Request that the supervisors attend the address at the same time the collections take place for 12 weeks (from the date of the Ombudsman’s letter) and they confirm to the Senior Manager that the collection has taken place.
• Review processes within the Service Delivery Department to ensure that all staff involved respond to complaints in a timely manner.
The Council agreed to undertake the above actions within 2 weeks, by 17 February 2022.
• Review the process for Assisted Lift Collections and provide staff with further training on the Assisted Lift Process.
The Council agreed to undertake the above action within 6 weeks, by 17 March 2022.