The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not providing him with bin collections from his new property and expecting him to present his bins in an adjacent street for collection. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making on how to provide its bin collections to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X moved into a new-build property in late 2023. He complains the Council: has failed to provide him with a bin collection at his property since he moved in; unreasonably expects him to present his bins in an adjacent street for collection.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mr X, relevant online maps and images, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We are not appeal body. We may only criticise a council’s decision where there is evidence of fault in its decision-making process and but for that fault officers would have made a different decision. So we consider the processes councils have followed to make their decisions. We cannot replace a council’s decision with our own or someone else’s opinion if the decision has been reached after following proper process.
The Council advised residents, including Mr X, to present their bins at the end of their road, road A, where it meets road B. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council explained its waste collection duty was to provide this service where it considers it is safe and reasonable to. Officers assessed the current standard and characteristics of road A. They took the view that the waste vehicles could not safely access road A to make collections and that it would not be suitable for crew to take Mr X’s bins to the vehicle on road B then return them.
The Council decided it will not provide a waste collection service from Mr X’s property after assessing road A. To make the decision, officers gathered information about the location and the requirements of its service and staff. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process here to warrant us investigating. We recognise Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
We note Mr X says he finds it difficult to move the full bins to the assigned collection point and made the Council aware of this when he complained. If Mr X believes his circumstances and those of the other people in his household mean his property would qualify for an assisted collection, he may wish to make an application to the Council. If he is dissatisfied with the application’s outcome, this would be a new complaint. He should complain to the Council first about its decision on any assisted collection application he makes before bringing the matter to the Ombudsman.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to warrant us investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman