The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions relating to his commercial waste collection service. His complaint about the Council’s actions in 2019 are late and there is not enough evidence of fault in its more recent actions causing Mr X significant injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council made false accusations against him and lied about the date it ended his trade waste service and removed his bin. He says this caused him stress, depression and sleeping problems. He wants the Council to admit it did not have correct information and that it made false allegations, lied and tried to cover it up.
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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Backgroun Mr X’s allegations are primarily against a single council officer but we must consider the complaint against the Council as a whole.
The issue concerns Mr X’s paid-for commercial waste collection which began in 2019. The Council has provided correspondence regarding a payment arrangement for the service and also to show it contacted Mr X when his direct debit was cancelled. Its correspondence shows it informed Mr X that because he had not paid in accordance with the arrangement he would have to pay the full amount immediately or it would end the service.
Mr X says his bank closed his business account without warning in 2019. He seems to accept that while he believed he had rearranged all of his direct debits, he may have missed payments to the Council. However he says the Council’s letters about his missed payments and termination of the service are a “complete fabrication”. He is unhappy the Council told him it removed his bin in 2019 when he has photographic evidence it was still at his property in 2020 and suggests non-payment could be part of a wider issue with the Council not invoicing business customers for commercial waste collections. He says that despite not paying for the service the Council has on occasion emptied his bin and he believes this is evidence it has done something wrong. He is also unhappy that when he asked for a second black bin in 2021 the Council initially refused to provide one as it considered he may intend to use it for commercial waste, and declined to provide a commercial waste collection service later in 2021 due to issues with his previous account in 2019.
My assessment
For whatever reason Mr X did not pay for his commercial waste collection service in 2019 and the Council therefore ceased his collections. The Council has provided copies of its demands for payment and warning letters about the termination and we cannot say, on balance, that the letters are fabricated and were never sent.
Mr X must have known the Council had terminated the service and while he refers to complaints from neighbours about waste attracting rats and foxes I have seen nothing to suggest he complained about the lack of collections at the time. Any complaint about this is therefore late and it is unlikely we would find fault.
While the Council may have incorrectly stated it removed his commercial bin in 2019 this statement does not cause Mr X significant injustice and the same can be said for its reply to his request for a second black bin in 2021. While the Council initially refused the request Mr X submitted a further request online and the Council delivered his second black bin promptly.
We will not investigate Mr X’s more recent complaint about the Council’s refusal to offer Mr X a new commercial waste collection service as there is no requirement or duty for the Council to provide the service. It has taken into account the arrears on Mr X’s previous account, as it is entitled to do, and should Mr X require a commercial waste collection service there are other options available to him.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because part of the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council or to show that its actions caused Mr X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman