Summary: Mr X complained about repeated missed waste collections by the Council and very early morning collection times. We have found fault with the Council for its poor communication and not acting promptly to resolve the issues. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused and to take action to improve its complaints handling.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to collect his household waste and recycling more than 50% of the time over many months and collections regularly happened before 6am. He said this affected his sleep, with the missed collections causing frustration and inconvenience as he had to make several trips to the recycling centre to get rid of waste himself.
2. He also complained about the Council’s delays in its complaints handling.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered his views.
6. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its written responses and information it provided.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

8. 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.
9. The Council’s practice is to make a weekly collection and it alternates between general waste bins and recycling bins.

Background

10. In August 2021, Mr X wrote to the Council as his bin had only been collected once over the previous three months. He had also complained of similar problems in May. The Council responded it would ensure the crew were notified of the matter going forward, with driver shortages affecting some scheduled collection days.
11. It reminded him to ensure his bins were presented at the boundaries of his property by 6.30am. It encouraged residents to report non collections on its website within 24 hours, but appreciated it was not always possible for some people.
12. The following week, Mr X emailed the Council to say his bins had still not been collected that week or from the previous week.

What happened

13. At the end of May 2022, Mr X complained to the Council, stating his waste and recycling bins kept being missed. Also, collection crews had visited before 6am which was inappropriately early. In mid-June, he chased for a response.
14. On 7 July, the Council formally responded. It said it may have been because he was not presenting the bins at the property boundary. It agreed collections before 6am were not acceptable. It said it had spoken to the crew regarding the issue and reminded them of the standards expected.
15. On 16 July, Mr X responded he had an open driveway with no obstructions, in his view it was an unacceptable excuse of the Council not to collect. He added his bins were missed even when they were left on the boundary. He escalated his complaint.
16. On 9 August, Mr X sent a chaser to the Council as he had not received a response and crews were continuing to arrive before 6am. Mr X then complained to us.
17. On 19 August, Council said it would progress his complaint to the final stage, after receiving contact from us.
18. On 15 September, the Council sent a final stage response. It clarified its position bins had to be presented at the boundary. It noted he had not reported any further missed collections after May 2022, according to its records. It had arranged for a memo for the collection crew to monitor his collections to ensure they went ahead, providing the bins were presented correctly, and not to collect before 6am.
19. Mr X said to me reporting missed collections on the Council’s website had to be done within a certain timeframe which he was not always able to do. He said he did not report any after May 2022 as he had opened a complaint with the Council, which he was actively chasing. He said he had also booked several trips to the recycling centre to get rid of the waste himself at the expense of his time.
20. The Council’s complaint policy says initial complaints will be responded to within a maximum time scale of 20 working days, after acknowledgement. If progressed to final review, it would respond within 30 working days, from the point it had acknowledged it.
21. Mr X said to me the bin issues had been resolved when I started my investigation.

The Council’s response to my enquiries

22. I asked the Council why Mr X’s bins had been missed even when they had been presented correctly. It said the collection crew sometimes had access issues to his road because of the parking of other vehicles. It had now assigned a narrow vehicle for this collection to reduce disruption to the service.
23. The Council’s records showed one missed collection report by Mr X in May 2022.
24. The Council sent me a record of bookings made by Mr X to attend its recycling centre. There were three within nine days in January 2022, four in April, three in May, and one each month between June and September.
25. It said it had delayed in processing Mr X’s complaints due to changes in IT system, high numbers of incoming calls and low staffing levels.
26. The Council was unable to confirm the number of times its crew made pre-6am collections. It said during Covid-19 it had allowed collections from 5am but at the beginning of February 2023, it had reverted to 6am collections.
27. The Council said its collection crews had previously used paper based records which were disposed of each month. By December 2022, it had introduced a new electronic system for the teams to record against which properties a collection could not be completed. Since then, it had no records to suggest any issues for Mr X.

Analysis

28. The Ombudsman makes impartial decisions based on evidence. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
29. In the period before his formal complaint in May 2022, it appears Mr X did not make missed collection reports so it is reasonable the Council would not have known and so would not have acted on it. But after his complaint in May 2022, it was aware of his concerns by then and should have acted promptly to try and resolve it. He had chased up the Council for responses saying the issues were still ongoing, so it is likely it delayed taking action.
30. Mr X first said he didn’t agree with where he had to present the bins because of his open driveway without a car, which the Council had said why his bins had been missed. This is a reasonable request from the Council. However, in his complaint escalation he said bins were still missed when they were at the boundary. The Council’s final response to him did not address this and repeated its first position. In response to my enquiries, it gave a different reason relating to the size of its vehicles. If this was the reason, I would have expected the Council to have told Mr X at the time.
31. Additionally, the Council said to Mr X it agreed pre-6am collections were unacceptable in July 2022. It appeared even after the Council had told Mr X again it would tell its crew not to do such early collections in September 2022, these had continued for a further few months. Mr X said it had been resolved by the end of the year. But I note the Council said to me it allowed its crew to do 5am collections throughout this period. This is contradictory and doesn’t line up with how it told Mr X it would resolve it. These mixed messages from the Council are poor communication.
32. I note the recycling centre bookings Mr X made. He made more trips at the beginning of 2022, but this reduced from May. Mr X says his bins had been missed 50% of the time in his complaint in August 2022. With no records from either party to evidence this, I am unable to reliably say how many missed collections there were and for how long.
33. I have taken all of the above into account, including evidence of a similar issue being raised by Mr X to the Council within 12 months of his complaint to us. On the balance of probabilities, in my view, there was a period of missed bin collections for Mr X in 2022 that were not resolved promptly, which prolonged some of the issues. I find fault with the Council for this, as this caused Mr X frustration for longer than it should have done.

Complaint handling

34. I have not seen evidence the Council acknowledged Mr X’s complaints at each stage in line with its policy. It took 25 days from his first complaint for a response, and 43 days for a final review. This is outside of the timescales within its policy, more notably at the second stage. Mr X also had to chase up in between.
35. I acknowledge the Council’s reasons for the delays with responding but the poor complaints handling is fault. This caused additional avoidable frustration for Mr X with his time and trouble in pursuing his complaint.

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Agreed action

36. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council has agreed to carry out the following actions:
37. Within one month of the final decision:
• Apologise to Mr X and pay him £150 to acknowledge his injustice (frustration and distress with missed bin collections and avoidable time and trouble chasing up this complaint).
38. Within two months of the final decision:
• Identify what key steps it will take to ensure the Council improves its complaint handling, providing evidence of this.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

40. I found fault with the Council which caused injustice to Mr X. The Council has agreed with the recommendations to remedy this, and I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman