The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Although the Council experienced a significant number of challenges to its refuse collection service over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains at fault for failing to empty Dr X’s bins on a number of occasions over a period of more than two years. This meant she had to go to the time and trouble of repeatedly reporting missed collections, which caused her an injustice. The Council has now fixed Dr X’s collection problems; however, it has also agreed to apologise, provide a payment of £200 to recognise Dr X’s injustice, and ensure our findings are shared as part of its ongoing contract review with its refuse collection provider.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Dr X, is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Because of this, she receives assisted bin collections from the Council. This means she does not have to present her bins at kerbside for collection – the collection crews collect her bins from outside her home, empty them and then return them.
Dr X complains that she has had consistent problems with her bin collections since October 2019. She says she has mostly experienced missed garden waste collections but has also seen problems with how her bins are returned, including being left in the middle of her driveway and blocking access for her wheelchair.
Dr X says she submitted more than one complaint to the Council, which responded by monitoring her collections; however, when the monitoring ended in March 2021, the problems returned.
Dr X says that, since that point, the Council has failed to collect (or has failed to fully collect) her bins on 21 different occasions. She also says her bins were returned in a way which prevented her wheelchair access to her home on six occasions.
Dr X says the Council spent a further period monitoring her collections in November 2021, but, after this was finished, the problems started again.
Although the company which collects Dr X’s bins is a private contractor, it does so on behalf of the Council. As a result, the body I am ultimately investigating is the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended) If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Dr X and the Council. Both had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
The Ombudsman’s 2020 report into the Council’s waste collections We issued a report in March 2020 which found fault in six complaints about the Council’s waste collection service. We made multiple recommendations, including changes to the missed collection monitoring process and democratic oversight of the service improvements already put in place by the Council.
What happened The Council made changes to its bin collections in in late 2019, which meant Dr X’s collection day changed.
After this, Dr X began experiencing bin collection issues, and continued to do so throughout 2020. She told the Council in November 2020 that it had at least partly missed collecting at least one of her bins every week throughout the year.
The Council accepted that there had been problems with Dr X’s collections, apologised, and acknowledged that it needed to take action to improve the service she received. It told her it had issued a memo to its crews about her assisted collections. It also said a supervisor would monitor her collections.
The monitoring started shortly afterwards, and Dr X experienced no collection problems during the monitoring period. However, after this ended in March 2021, the problems started again, and she approached the Ombudsman.
The Council has records of Dr X reporting two missed collections in June 2021, one in September, three in October and two the following January. In October the Council failed to come and collect her garden and food waste even after she first reported the missed collection. Dr X says this was particularly concerning as she has a weakened immune system and rotting food waste could have potentially caused her an infection.
Dr X says the Council also failed to collect her bins (or only partially emptied them) on a further nine occasions between April 2021 and March 2022. The Council has no record of these missed collections, although twice (in April 2021) Dr X reported the problems and the Council returned to empty the bins. On the other occasions Dr X did not notify the Council.
Dr X also says the Council returned her bins in a way which prevented her wheelchair access to her home on six occasions between March and September 2021.
Dr X made a further complaint to the Council in October 2021 about repeated missed collections. The Council apologised (again) and said it would collect her bins as soon as possible. It also said it would put another period of supervisor monitoring in place to ensure the bins were collected and that they were returned properly.
Dr X reported no collection problems during the period of monitoring, although (as above) she says there have been missed collections since. However, there have been no recent issues with how her bins are returned after being emptied.
The Council’s position The Council says the problems experienced by Dr X have been because of prolonged pandemic-related difficulties: its green bin collections were suspended in March and April 2020 and only resumed in full in March 2021, and there was also a significant impact on staffing across the waste collection service more generally throughout the pandemic.
The Council says this led to collection crews being diverted to unfamiliar routes at short notice, often with new or agency staff. It says it made every effort to ensure these crews were given the right information in advance, but this was done at short notice and under significant pressure.
The Council says its refuse collection provider suffered a cyberattack in December which limited its access to its computer system until June 2021. It says this meant service requests (such as for missed collections) had to be dealt with manually.
The Council says it struggled to ‘embed’ the service improvements it made around the time of the Ombudsman’s report in 2020 because the pandemic hit its services almost immediately afterwards. However, it says it has now managed to do this, which is proved by the fact that Dr X has experienced no collection problems for four months.
The Council says it is currently engaged in a formal contract review with its refuse collection provider. It says the experience of its customers will form a part of that review.
My findings
There is no doubt that, for significant periods of time since March 2020, the Council has faced unprecedented challenges to its bin collection services. I accept the Council’s description of those challenges and acknowledge the issues it experienced.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic – while a substantial mitigating factor – did not completely absolve the Council of its duties.
The Council has already accepted (in its complaint responses) a series of failures to collect Dr X’s bins over a period of more than two years. It has apologised more than once and has repeatedly taken action to improve matters. Unfortunately, during 2020 and most of 2021 these actions failed to prevent recurring failures.
This was fault by the Council. Despite the efforts it made to resolve Dr X’s issues, and although it clearly experienced pandemic-related staffing difficulties, the fact remains that Dr X, through no fault of her own, found she repeatedly had to go to the time and trouble of getting the Council to come back and empty her bins. This caused her an injustice. From her description of events, I also accept she was caused a great deal of frustration from having to do this on many occasions over a period of more than two years.
Dr X did not report every missed collection to the Council (although she may have reported more than the Council is able to evidence due to the cyberattack on its refuse collection provider in late 2020). If a missed collection is not reported, then the Council cannot sort it out. Nonetheless, she reported so many missed collections that – even discounting the ones she did not report – her injustice was substantive.
I also note that Dr X is particularly vulnerable to infection because of her condition, and she was clearly upset at the thought that waste building up outside her home may be a risk to her. Bins were also, at times, returned in a way which meant she found it difficult to get in and out of her home in her wheelchair. I am satisfied that this will have added to her avoidable distress from the Council’s failings.
In light of the unique challenges presented to the Council since March 2020, plus the fact that Dr X’s collection issues are now largely resolved, I have decided that a further public report is not necessary. However, the Council should still take action to remedy her injustice.
Agreed actions
Within six weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to: write to Dr X and apologise for its repeated bin collection failures over a period of more than two years.
make a payment of £200 to recognise her injustice.
ensure that my findings are shared as part of its ongoing formal contract review with its refuse collection provider.
Final decision
The Council was at fault for failing to collect Dr X’s bins on a number of occasions over a period of more than two years. The agreed actions remedy her injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman