The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to arrange household waste collections. The issues Mr X is complaining about affect all or most of the people in the local area.
The complaint
Mr X says the Council has failed to arrange for his household waste to be collected.
Mr X also says when he complained the Council failed to provide a direct response and the comments it made in the local media were inappropriate.
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 Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X is complaining about issues that affect all the people living in his local area because the industrial action which has caused this affects the whole Council area.
In any event, to mitigate the effect of strike action the Council has arranged drop sites to which people can take their waste. We could not say it has failed to meet its general duty to arrange collection of household waste. (Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 45).
In cases where we do not investigate the matters in a complaint, we do not separately investigate the Council’s complaint handling process.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the issues he is complaining about affect all or most of the people in the local area.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman