The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s bin contractors. The complaint about the empty bins, and an incident of abusive language, do not cause such significant personal injustice to him to warrant us investigating. Any damage to Mr X’s property would be a matter for the Council’s insurers, the courts or the police, not the Ombudsman. We do not investigate complaints about council’s internal complaint processes where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complains: the Council’s bin contractors leave his and his neighbour’s emptied bins outside his property; the contractors have caused damage to his property; one of the contractors directed foul and abusive language towards him; the Council’s complaints system has failed to deal properly with his complaint.
Mr X says the matter has caused him stress, anger and anxiety. He is concerned about a vendetta against him by the bin crews, and about further damage by them to his property, when on or off duty. He has also spent time and been caused trouble by having to complain.
Mr X wants the Council to: take proper account of complaints; find a definitive and lasting solution to the bin issue; and offer him a face-to-face meeting with a senior manager who can resolve the bin matters.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mr X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I recognise bin crews leaving empty bins outside Mr X’s property, and across or part way across his driveway, causes frustration and inconvenience from having to move them before being able to enter or exit his drive. Mr X also says a member of the bin crew used foul and abusive language towards him during one incident. That incident should not have occurred. But these matters do not cause a serious enough personal injustice to Mr X to justify us using public money to investigate them.
Mr X says the contractors have damaged his property while emptying the bins. The Ombudsman does not make findings on property damage liability, which is a legal matter. If Mr X considers such damage has occurred, he should pursue this with the Council’s insurers in the first instance. If the Council responds to the claim denying liability, it would be a matter for the courts. Insurers and the courts are the bodies which assess and determine legal damage liability matters, so are the organisations best placed to deal with this part of Mr X’s complaint.
I note Mr X is concerned about members of the bin crews damaging his property when they are off duty. There is no indication such damage has happened. If it did, this would be a criminal damage issue, so the police would be the best placed and appropriate body to consider it.
Mr X says the Council’s complaint process has not dealt with this matter properly. We will not investigate councils’ internal complaints processes in isolation where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint. We do not consider it an effective use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so will not pursue this part of the complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because: the core complaint about the empty bins, and the incident of abusive language, do not cause such significant personal injustice to him to warrant us investigating; any damage to his property would be a matter for the Council’s insurers, the courts or the police, and are not for the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman