Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly assess her property and provide her with a wheelie bin in accordance with its eligibility criteria. The Council is at fault because it failed to fully assess Mrs X’s property for the storage and collection of a wheelie bin in line with its policy. The Council has agreed to carry out a new assessment of Mrs X’s property which remedies any injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly assess her property and provide her with a wheelie bin. Mrs X says her neighbours with similar properties and access have wheelie bins. She says the lack of wheelie bin is causing her inconvenience and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered information she provided.
5. I considered the Council’s response to my enquiry letter.
6. I considered the Council’s eligibility criteria for how it allocates households a wheelie bin or sack.
7. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I consider comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Council’s wheelie bin allocation policy

8. The Council’s policy says that each household will be provided with a wheelie bin for rubbish unless the household does not meet the eligibility criteria. If this is the case, then the household will receive a 180-litre protective sack for rubbish instead.
9. The Council applies an eligibility criteria to each household. A household would not receive a wheelie bin for any of the following reasons:
1. The wheelie bin must be brought up or down a series of 3, or more, steps:
• presents a safety risk,
• unreasonable difficulty,
• there is no alternative access or storage point
1. nowhere to store a wheelie bin within the property boundary,
2. would have to take the wheelie bin through the property to present it for collection,
3. storage is at the rear of the property and there is no ability to collect from the rear,
4. no access for a large collection vehicle able to lift a wheelie bin
10. If a household does not think a bin or sack will work for their property they can make a rubbish container change request. The Council will respond to this within 20 working days.

What happened

11. Mrs X lives in a semi-detached house that is accessible by 3 or more steps at the front. The house is also accessible from the back via a lane.
12. Following the Council’s new waste and recycling service, Mrs X was allocated a protective sack to store rubbish rather than a wheelie bin.
13. In October 2023 Mrs X contacted the Council and requested a wheelie bin. Mrs X told the Council she has pedestrian and vehicle access to a lane at the rear of her house where a wheelie bin could be collected and emptied. She said ten other properties with access to this lane have been allocated a wheelie bin.
14. In December 2023, Mrs X made a further complaint as she had no response from the Council. Mrs X reiterated that she can safely put the bin out for collection via the back lane as there are no steps and she has ample space to store it.
15. In January 2024, the Council responded saying that it reviewed the decision and apologised for not contacting Mrs X sooner. It concluded a sack was the correct container for her property based on its criteria.
16. Mrs X remained unhappy with the Council’s handling of the matter and complained to us.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

17. The Council said that it has carried out the assessment of Mrs X’s house correctly and has applied the right container for this property. It also said that it followed its review process of the two complaints correctly.
18. The assessment outcome for Mrs X’s property was a 180-litre protective sack because there are 3 or more steps leading to the front of the property.
19. The Council says the review outcome was the same because the review team could see from using online tools such as street view that a wheelie bin would not be suitable for the property based on its criteria.

My findings

20. There is no fault in how the Council has considered the front of Mrs X’s property. Mrs X has 3 or more steps and based on the eligibility criteria she cannot have a wheelie bin. But it is clear in both of Mrs X’s complaints to the Council that she asked the Council to consider whether it could collect a wheelie bin via the back lane, as it does for neighbouring properties. Mrs X said there was space for the storage and collection of a wheelie bin at the rear. The Council has not explained why these properties have a bin and Mrs X does not and there is no evidence it has assessed or considered assessing the rear of the property.
21. The Council’s failure to properly assess the rear of Mrs X’s property is fault. This has caused Mrs X uncertainty and frustration.

Complaint handling

22. When Mrs X initially requested a container change, the Council should have responded within 20 working days. Mrs X only had a response from the Council after she complained again in December 2023. This was 7 weeks after her initial request. The delay considering and responding to Mrs X’s review request was fault and caused Mrs X frustration and uncertainty.
23. The Council has already apologised for this which is an appropriate remedy for any injustice caused.

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Agreed actions

24. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Carry out a new assessment considering the rear of Mrs X’s property to see if she is eligible for a wheelie bin.
2. Remind relevant officers to carry out assessment reviews within timescales.
25. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

26. I completed this investigation. I found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman