Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his waste collection. The Council failed to consistently collect waste, failed to properly address the cause of this and kept poor records. These faults caused Mr X frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mr X to recognise the personal injustice caused to him. The Council will also review its processes.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:

• failed to consistently collect general or recycling waste since July 2023;
• incorrectly closed down reported missed collections as completed;
• improperly blamed missed collections on parking blocking access for the bin lorries; and
• the Council’s chief executive failed to properly respond to his complaints and MP contacts.

2. Mr X says the uncollected waste has attracted vermin and pests. He also says when waste is left that it is impossible for residents to get into the bin shed and the lack of collections makes recycling difficult.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to respond to MP contacts. This is because I cannot consider matters relating to MPs as the Council has a separate process for dealing with MP correspondence and this is not dealt with through the complaints process. It would be for an MP to raise issues in their own right if they were unhappy with the service they received from the Council.
6. I have investigated the remainder of Mr X’s complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered the information he provided. I also considered information the Council provided in response to my enquiries.
8. Mr X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered these comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

Environmental Protection Act 1990

9. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.

Council’s waste collection policy

10. When a resident has their waste collection missed, they can report the issue to the Council online. The Council says it aims to collect any missed waste the next working day.

Principles of Good Administrative Practice

11. The Ombudsman published the Principles of Good Administrative Practice in 2018. This sets out the standards we expect from bodies in jurisdiction.
12. The guidance stresses the importance of keeping proper and appropriate records.

Council’s complaints procedure

13. The Council’s complaints procedure says that the Council aims to reply to stage one complaints within 10 working days. The Council says it aims to respond to stage two complaints within 20 working days.

What happened?

14. Mr X lives in a block of flats with communal bins. He said he moved into the property in July 2021 and missed waste collections have been ongoing since this date, however he only started to record them in July 2023. Mr X says the Council has missed waste collections on at least ten occasions since July 2023.
15. On 4 November 2023, Mr X contacted a local councillor to raise concerns about missed waste collections. He said that he and the other residents were frustrated with the inconsistent collections, which attracted vermin to the area. Mr X also complained that Council staff had marked some missed collections online as completed, which was wrong as it had not collected the waste.
16. On 12 January 2024, Mr X made a stage one complaint to the Council repeating the concerns he had raised with the councillor. Mr X also asked for a partial refund of council tax due to the poor waste services provided by the Council.
17. The Council responded to the complaint on 18 January, it said it had raised the issues with the company which provides waste services on behalf of the Council (the contractor). The Council said the contractor had said there was a need for larger recycling bins at the location. The Council said it is ensuring the managing agent for the building is contacted to ask them to hire a larger capacity recycling bin. The Council also said that the contractor had reported access issues due to parked cars which caused them to miss collections as it could not access the bins.
18. The Council said it upheld Mr X’s complaint as there were times that the contractor failed to collect the waste, and the Council had wrongly closed off Mr X’s online missed collection reports.
19. Mr X responded to the Council the same day. He said he did not feel the Council had met the outcome he wanted. He again said he would like a partial refund of his council tax due to the Council’s mismanagement of the waste collections. He also said he had witnessed two dustbin lorries making a U-turn without making any collections.
20. The Council responded to Mr X on 23 February. It said the Council had contacted the managing agent about the bins. The Council said parked cars had restricted waste vehicles access to the road which hindered collections. It said that the contractor crews would now be taking pictures of any parking issues. The Council said that in terms of the council tax refund, the collection costs form a small part of the overall council tax paid by residents and so it could not provide refunds. The Council said if Mr X remained unhappy, he could escalate this to a stage two complaint.
21. Mr X sent a stage two complaint to the Council two days later.
22. The Council responded to this on 18 March, it said it was satisfied with the response the Council provided at stage one. The Council said there had been five instances of the waste crew reporting issues since January 2023. The Council said if this was regularly reported by the waste crews then the Council would contact the managing agent to review the parking situation. However, as reports have been sporadic in the past year, there has not been much information to act on. The Council did not uphold the complaint at stage two.
23. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had reported the parking issues to its internal schemes department who will then be able to visit, assess and advise any solution.
24. The Council also provided two photos of parked cars that prevented the waste lorry from entering the area since February 2024. I asked the council to explain what action it had taken to overcome the specific issue in the photos however it failed to respond to this point.
25. The Council provided information that it had eight missed collections recorded since July 2023 to present.

Analysis

Waste collections

26. The Council has already acknowledged that there have been eight missed collections recorded since July 2023. Mr X however believes there were more missed collections than the eight the Council has recorded.
27. In any event, there was a duty on the Council to consider the cause of the problem and look for a resolution. I note that in January 2024, the Council said there were issues with parked cars blocking access for the waste vehicle. A month later it said that the same issue was still happening and so the contractor would be taking pictures of any parking issues.
28. In July 2024, I asked the Council to provide copies of any photos taken by the contractor, and to explain any action the Council had taken as a result to overcome the specific issue in the photos. The Council provided two undated photos showing parked cars blocking the road, however failed to provide any explanation as to what it had done to address the issues in the photos.
29. The Council also said it had reported the parking issues to its internal schemes department who would be able to visit, assess and advise any solution, however it failed to tell me when it had done this. As the Council told me this a year after the first missed collections were recorded, I would have expected it to have evidence of the outcome of this action at this point.
30. The Council has no records to evidence its decision making or about it taking action. This is fault by the Council as we expect it to follow the Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Administrative Practice and to keep sufficient records. The Council has acknowledged there has been an issue with waste collections, however it has been unable to explain the reason why nor how it will address the problem. This is fault by the Council and has caused frustration to Mr X as the waste has not been collected. This has also caused him distress and uncertainty about whether the Council is doing anything to address the issue.

Mr X’s reports of missed collections

31. The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint that it closed reported missed collections as completed. I asked the Council to explain the reasons for this however the Council did not respond to this point. The incorrect closure of missed collections was fault and this caused Mr X frustration.

Missed collections due to parking

32. The Council has provided evidence of parked cars blocking the road on two occasions which it says was provided to them by its waste crews. Mr X also reported seeing the waste vehicle turning around without making waste collections. My earlier analysis on waste collections explains the Council needs to further investigate and address the issue of missed collections. However, it is evident that parking has been a contributing factor to the problem so there is no fault in the Council saying this is one of the reasons for missed collections.

Council’s response to complaints

33. I have already set out earlier in the decision that I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint relating to the Council’s contacts with an MP.
34. I have viewed the Council’s complaint policy and this does not require the chief executive of the Council to respond personally to complaints.
35. Mr X submitted a stage one complaint on 12 January 2024. The Council responded to him on 18 January.
36. Mr X submitted a stage two complaint on 25 February which the Council responded to on 18 March.
37. Therefore, evidence shows the Council responded to Mr X’s complaints in line with its policy and so there is no fault here.

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Agreed action

38. Within one month of my final decision the Council will:

• apologise to Mr X for the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by missed waste collections; and
• make a payment of £100 to Mr X in recognition of the faults identified.

39. Within three months of my final decision the Council will:

• improve its record keeping for monitoring missed waste collections. The Council may find it helpful to consider our focus report ‘Lifting the lid on bin complaints: learning to improve waste and recycling services’;
• consider issuing letters to residents to highlight the need for all to park appropriately to enable access for waste vehicles; and
• monitor Mr X’s waste collections for two months and ensure any missed collections are returned to.

40. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

41. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman