Summary: Miss X complains the Council has not properly delivered her refuse collection service. The Council is at fault because it did not change her assisted collection service to her new address and failed to collect her refuse after it did. Miss X suffered avoidable distress and had to continue complaining about missed refuse collections. The Council has agreed to pay Miss X £250 for avoidable distress, £100 for her time and trouble, monitor service delivery and report to the Ombudsman about service improvements.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complains the Council failed:
• to move her assisted collections from her previous Lambeth address to her current one for over three and a half months; and
• to return to collect missed bin collections that she reported to them.
2. Miss X says she has not had her refuse collected and has had to repeatedly chase the Council.

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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 spoke to Miss X about her complaint. I considered the supporting documents the Council provided.
6. Miss 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

What happened?

7. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
8. Miss X was in receipt of an assisted refuse collection. In June 2022 Miss X moved to a new address. Miss X notified the Council and asked for her assisted collection to be provided at her new address.
9. Miss X complained to the Council that her refuse was not being collected. The Council agreed in its complaint response that it, “failed to follow assisted collection procedures”, and for, “the lack of collections.”
10. Miss X reported further problems and complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

11. Documents provided by the Council clearly indicate Miss X requested her assisted collection be changed to her new address at least twice, in August and September.
12. The Council did not change her assisted collection to Miss X’s new address until early October.
13. In its complaint response, the Council agreed it was at fault regarding Miss X’s assisted collection and missed collections. This was fault by the Council. Miss X suffered delays to her service provision and missed refuse collections.
14. Documents provided by the Council show refuse collection problems continued until January 2023, despite an apparent 4 week monitoring period and service improvements being considered. This was fault by the Council. Miss X suffered further missed refuse collections.

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Agreed action

15. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 6 weeks of this decision:
• Apologise to Miss X;
• Pay Miss X £250 for avoidable distress;
• Pay Miss X £100 for time and trouble;
• Monitor and review its refuse collections from Miss X for four weeks;
• Investigate why its service failure continued after its complaint response acknowledging fault and provide a report to the Ombudsman detailing the outcomes, together with any service improvement actions it proposes to take.
16. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

17. I have found fault by the Council which caused injustice to Miss X. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman