The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in delivering her new refuse bins. This is because an investigation by this office could not add to the response already provided via the Council’s previous investigation and the injustice caused is not serious enough to merit an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains the Council delayed in delivering her new refuse bins when she moved to a property in the Council’s area.
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 do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X moved to a new property in the Council’s area. The property did not have refuse bins and so Ms X ordered replacement bins from the Council before she moved into the property.
Ms X complained to the Council when, four weeks later, she had not received her bins. This was causing her inconvenience as she was taking her own refuse to the recycling centre whilst she was waiting for the bins to be delivered.
The Council said it usually aims to deliver replacement bins within four weeks but, due to an error on its system, Ms X’s order was not processed correctly. It informed Ms X of this and apologised for the delay. It said it would deliver her bins within two weeks, and did so. The bins were delivered just over six weeks after Ms X ordered them, and four weeks after she moved to the property.
Ms X asked the Council to provide a partial refund of two months’ council tax to account for the period she did not receive a refuse service.
The Council acknowledged it took longer than it usually aims to deliver the bins and that this was caused by an error on its part. It apologised to Ms X for this and for any inconvenience it caused her. It said it would not refund her council tax and explained why.
I do not see that an investigation by this office could add to the response the Council has provided via its own investigation. Ms X was put to some inconvenience whilst waiting an extra two weeks for the replacement bins due to the Council’s error. The Council’s apology offers a suitable remedy and the injustice caused is not serious enough to merit an investigation by this office.
Ms X asked the Council to provide a partial refund of her council tax for the period she was without bins. However, council tax is not a service charge, nor is it paid in order to receive services a council provides. It is a local tax on domestic property. As such, refunds are not provided should a resident not receive a council service for any reason.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because an investigation by this office could not add to the response Ms X has already received via the Council’s previous investigation and the injustice caused is not serious enough to merit an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman