The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss C’s complaint about missed garden waste collections. This is because the alleged fault has not caused Miss C a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss C, complains that the Council did not collect her garden waste between September 2021 and March 2022. Miss C says she put out her garden waste on each collection date until late January 2022. Miss C says she is on a low income, so grows her own food in her garden. Miss C says because the Council did not collect her green waste she could not clear the ground to plant crops for the following year. Miss C would like an explanation and an apology from the Council. Miss C would also like a refund of £26 to cover the period she paid for a garden waste service which she did not receive.
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 an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss C.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I understand why Miss C feels aggrieved about this issue. But, we have limited resources and must use public money carefully.
We focus our investigations on complaints where the alleged fault has caused a person a serious injustice, particularly where the complaint raises an issue of wider public interest.
I find an investigation of Miss C’s complaint is not justified. This is for four reasons.
First, Miss C says she stopped putting her garden waste out for collection in January 2022 because her waste was not being collected and she assumed the service had been suspended. This means the period of alleged fortnightly missed collections was relatively short: from September 2021 to January 2022. Also, this was during the autumn and winter when generally it would be expected that residents would have less garden waste than during the spring and summer.
Second, the Council says when it visited Miss C’s property on a collection day in March 2022, her garden waste was not in the correct location for collection. This may be a possible reason for Miss C’s garden waste not being collected.
Third, even if an investigation found the Council to be at fault, I am not satisfied that the injustice claimed by Miss C is a direct result of fault by the Council. Miss C says she could not clear the ground to plant crops for the following year. But, although Miss C would have been inconvenienced by the missed collections, it is unlikely an investigation would find the alleged fault prevented Miss C from planting crops. Miss C had other options such as taking the garden waste to a waste and recycling site or composting it.
Fourth, the refund of £26 which Miss C seeks does not justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
For the above reasons, we will not investigate Miss C’s complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman