The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council repeatedly failed to collect her bagged household refuse which caused her frustration and inconvenience. We have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action of an apology and symbolic payment provides a suitable remedy.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council repeatedly failed to collect her bagged household refuse during 2023 and failed to resolve the issue despite upholding three separate complaints.
Mrs X says because of the Council's fault, vermin ripped open the bags which left waste strewn across the road which was unsightly and a health hazard. Mrs X says she had to clear up the mess and suffered avoidable frustration and upset in trying to get the matter resolved.
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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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 X and discussed the complaint with her. I have also considered information from the Council. I have explained my draft decision to Mrs X and the Council and provided an opportunity for comment.
What I found
Background and legislation 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.
Councils normally expect people to move their bins to the pavement in front of their property, to allow it to be easily collected. However, a council may decide to provide an assisted collection to a person if they are unable to move their bins because of a disability. Under an assisted collection, the crew will enter the person’s property, such as their garden or driveway, to collect the bins, and then return them to their storage place afterwards.
What happened During the period of this complaint, the Council provided a bagged waste collection service. This has now changed to the use of wheeled bins.
Mrs X complained to the Council on 28 September 2023 that her household waste was not being collected despite the bags being put out before 7am. Mrs X says she was told to leave the waste out for a later collection but this takes too long and leaves waste across the street which is not cleaned up. Mrs X made a further complaint about the same issue. The Council upheld both these complaints. The Council confirmed in its complaint response of 20 October that the supervisor would check every collection to ensure this was not missed again.
Mrs X complained again to the Council on 8 November about ongoing problems with its waste collection service. Mrs X complained that despite having a previous complaint upheld she continued to experience issues with bags not being collected and ending up with spilt waste across the street which was not being cleared. The Council responded on 16 November and upheld Mrs X’s complaint. The Council apologised for the inconvenience regarding the ongoing missed collections and had arranged for this to be collected within two working days. The Council also confirmed that the supervisor had spoken to the relevant crews and would check each collection day to ensure there were no further missed collections. The Council’s letter does not address the element of the complaint about the lack of street cleaning following missed collections or provide details of how to progress the complaint if Mrs X remained unhappy with the outcome.
Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in November and says she was provided with our details by her local councillor.
As Mrs X had only received a reply at the first stage of the Council’s complaint procedure, we wrote to the Council twice asking if the complaint had now completed the Council’s complaint procedure. As we did not receive a reply we wrote to the Council and asked it to put the matter through its complaint procedure at the start of December.
The Council provided an update to the Ombudsman on 11 December to say there had been three complaints from Mrs X all of which had been upheld and a stage 2 referral was not required in these circumstances and noted the complainant had the right to request escalation to the Ombudsman. The Council noted the waste collection service had now changed from bags to a fortnightly wheeled bin and asked the Ombudsman to contact the complainant to see if matters had resolved.
Mrs X contacted the Ombudsman further in December to say the refuse collectors had removed all the black bags out of the bins and placed them all together in a pile for collection. This amounted to about 20 bags and these were not collected. Mrs X explained she had reported the bags being left out several times and then made another complaint. Mrs X provided a copy of the Council’s complaint response which stated the bags should not have been removed from the bins by the crew and the supervisor would speak to them about this and the bags would be collected imminently. The Council’s letter says the matter could be referred to the Housing Ombudsman and provided details for both the Housing Ombudsman and our details. However, they had not been collected when Mrs X contacted the Ombudsman on 11 December. This meant the waste was now spread across the road. Mrs X explained she was heavily pregnant and the matter was causing her significant distress. Mrs X provided a photograph of at least 17 bags of waste which are ripped open with waste spilling across a grass verge and pavement.
We sought some preliminary information from the Council in January 2024 including details of all reported missed waste collections from Mrs X from December 2022 to date. The Council provided details in early February and stated there had been 17 reported missed collections for the period 31 August 2023 onwards only. However, the list provided is for 10 reports and some of these appear to be duplicated or include Mrs X’s complaints rather than reports of missed collections. The Council also provided photographs from a supervisor’s visit on 22 November which showed crews returning to collect bagged waste and information about its new Waste Management Scheme which had been introduced at the end of November 2023.
The Council subsequently provided information to the Ombudsman on 29 February to say Mrs X had reported 4 missed collections between 2021 and 2022 and that 3 of these had been due to the waste not being left out on time. The Council stated there had been 6 reported missed collections during 2022 to 2023 with 1 of these being where the waste was not left out on time.
In response to my enquiries, the Council has stated that Mrs X is on its assisted collection. The Council further says there had been confusion about where the collection point was and Mrs X sometimes placed her waste to the front of the property and sometimes at the rear. The Council also says there were regular crew changes during this period and confusion about where collections should have taken place. The Council says it does not hold records of street cleansing but the cleansing team generally follows a day after the collection.
Mrs X has confirmed she does not receive an assisted collection service from the Council and places her household waste at the edge of her property next to the pavement before 7am on the day of collection. The Council may wish to review its records for this address.
The Council says it did not hold any records for Mrs X’s report about bags being removed from bins and left in a pile. This is despite Mrs X providing the Ombudsman with a copy of the Council’s response at the time which stated the bags should not have been removed from the bins by the crew and the supervisor would speak to them about this and the bags would be collected imminently.
Based on the information provided, I am satisfied there have been repeated failures to complete the waste collections at Mrs X’s property. This is fault. I am also satisfied, on balance, that bags were removed by the waste collection crew in December 2023 and left for an extended period near Mrs X’s property. This is further fault. Taken together, I am satisfied this will have caused Mrs X a considerable degree of avoidable inconvenience and frustration.
I have also noted some of the Council’s complaint responses did not provide details of how to escalate the matter if Mrs X remained unhappy. This is fault. We expect councils to signpost the complainant to us. On the one occasion the Council did so it provided details of the Housing Ombudsman which is not the correct Ombudsman for a complaint about the Council’s failure to collect household waste.
Agreed action
The Council will take the following action to provide a suitable remedy within one month of my final decision: write to Mrs X to apologise for the repeated failure to collect her household waste; pay Mrs X £250 for her avoidable inconvenience and frustration from the missed waste collections; review its complaint correspondence templates to ensure complainants are advised how to escalate their complaint and that details of the correct Ombudsman scheme are provided.
We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
Final decision
I have completed my investigation as I have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed action above provides a suitable remedy.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman