The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs C complains about problems with her assisted bin collection service and that she has to move the bins despite having mobility problems and has spent unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve the matter. We have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action of £200 and monitoring of future collections provides a suitable remedy.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs C, complains about problems with her assisted bin collection service. Mrs C says there have been repeated missed collections and bins are left blocking her driveway and car during the period August 2021 to May 2022.
Mrs C says because of the Council’s fault, she has to move the bins despite having mobility problems and has spent unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve the matter.
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) 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 read the papers provided by Mrs C and discussed the complaint with her. I have considered some information from the Council and provided a copy of this to Mrs C. I have explained my draft decision to Mrs C and the Council and provided an opportunity for comment.
Background
Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in their area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
Council’s provide an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to disability or age. In such cases, councils should collect the bins from the storage or agreed point and return them to the same place.
Many councils use a contractor to provide their waste and recycling services on their behalf. In such cases the council retains responsibility for ensuring the quality of the service and is accountable if things go wrong.
Key events The current collection schedule for Mrs C’s property involves a Monday collection every three weeks for comingled recycled waste (black bin), paper and cardboard waste (blue bin) and every two weeks for general waste (green bin) and weekly for food and garden waste (brown bin).
The Council has provided a copy of its Waste Policy and Enforcement Strategy. This states at paragraph 2.2 that if the Council is unable to empty bins on the scheduled day of collection residents should leave bins out and the crew will return to collect the waste or recycling at the earliest operational opportunity. Paragraphs 2.19 and 2.20 state that if access to the property is obstructed the crew will make three collection attempts on the scheduled day and will report any containers presented incorrectly or access issues. Where containers are not presented correctly, they will not be collected until the next scheduled collection and residents should return the bin to their property until then.
This policy also provides the following information under the heading Assisted Collections at paragraphs 2.39 to 2.40: “The Council offers assisted collections to residents who are infirm or who cannot put their waste out on the collection day due to a qualifying health condition or disability. This means that waste and recycling crews will pull out the bins from an accessible location so that they can be emptied and then returned.
This service is subject to no other able bodied person living at the property.”
The Council says although Mrs C does not meet the criteria for the assisted collection as she lives with her husband and son who are able bodied it exercised its discretion to include this address to the assisted collection list as Mrs C’s husband started work in the early hours and her son usually goes to work before 9am which meant Mrs C was not able to move the bins after the collection due to her disability to access her car.
The Council has confirmed the agreed arrangement is for its crews to pull out and return any bins to Mrs C’s driveway in front of her garage. The Council has provided a photograph to demonstrate this arrangement.
Mrs C complained to the Council towards the end of August 2021 that its crews were repeatedly leaving bins blocking access to her driveway and car. The Council responded in mid-September and apologised for any inconvenience. The Council confirmed it had raised the matter with its crews and made clear bins should not be left blocking access to her driveway. The Council also added this instruction to its ‘in cab reminder’ system which required the driver to manually confirm the instruction had been actioned and confirm this to the supervisor at the end of the day. The Council has provided a copy of the daily checklist which sets out bins must not block the driveway at Mrs C’s property.
Mrs C remained unhappy with the outcome as the first collection following the above complaint response left the bins blocking her car. The Council provided a further response to Mrs C at Stage 2 of its complaints procedure in October. The Council apologised that Mrs C had not received the expected standard of service. The Council confirmed appropriate action had been taken with the crew concerned and any further issues would be addressed under the Council’s disciplinary procedure. The Council provided a direct telephone number for Mrs C to raise any further issues.
Mrs C complained to the Council on 5 January 2022 that her black bin was not collected although other bins had been collected in her street. Mrs C also stated bins had been left in the road behind car which was parked on her driveway and provided a photograph. The Council confirmed the same day it would arrange for her bin to be collected as a matter of urgency. Mrs C contacted the Council again on 6 January to say her bin had still not been collected. The Council provided a further complaint response to Mrs C towards the end of January. The Council apologised again for the standard of service Mrs C had received and noted the bin was collected the following day. The Council explained its collection service was being impacted by COVID-19 which meant some rounds were being delayed.
Mrs C contacted the Council on 21 February to say her blue bin had not been emptied. The Council arranged for the crew to return and empty the bin the same day.
There was a missed collection for the entire street on 7 March and these were emptied the following day. Mrs C reported a further missed collection on 14 March when no bins were collected in her street. The Council emptied the bins the next day but it was a different crew who were not aware of Mrs C’s assisted collection arrangement until she told them. Mrs C says she was sworn at by members of the crew and reported this to the Council. The Council confirmed all crews should be aware of which properties have assisted collections.
Bins were not returned properly and left blocking Mrs C’s car on 4 April.
My consideration It is clear from the information provided that there have been repeated missed collections and bins not being returned properly affecting Mrs C's property between August 2021 and May 2022. Councils cannot guarantee there will never be a missed collection and it may not be realistic for people to expect this. However, I consider the issues affecting Mrs C’s property when taken together constitute fault.
I have taken into account that the issues are intermittent and the Council has apologised to Mrs C and taken some action in response to her reports to try and improve matters. I also note the Council says that crews will return the same day if missed collections are identified using the daily supervision process so Mrs C does not have to report these directly. However, this would not address the specific issue of bins being left in such a way as to block access to Mrs C’s car. I have also taken into account that Mrs C should have been receiving an assisted collection service which exacerbates the impact on her.
In these circumstances, I consider the Council should take further action to provide a remedy for Mrs C’s unnecessary time and trouble in repeatedly reporting issues and her increasing frustration when the issues reoccurred and to ensure further issues are addressed.
Agreed action
The Council will: pay Mrs C £200 to recognise her time, trouble and frustration within one month of my final decision; ensure effective monitoring of all the collections from Mrs C’s property for two months following my final decision (this should include evidence of both the collection of the bins and their return to the correct location for each collection) to ensure service improvements are fully embedded; and report the findings to Mrs C and the Ombudsman within one month of the completion of the above monitoring.
Final decision
I have completed my investigation as I have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed actions above provide a suitable remedy
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman