Summary: Mr X complained the Council repeatedly missed his assisted bin collection. This has caused his bin to be overloaded and caused Mr X emotional distress. The Ombudsman has found the Council at fault for failing to collect Mr X’s rubbish.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has repeatedly missed his assisted bin collection. This has caused his bin to be overloaded. Mr X must arrange disposal of his rubbish. This has caused him emotional distress. Mr X would like the Council to improve the service and empty his refuse bin on a consistent basis.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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 the future 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. As part of the investigation I have considered the following:
• The complaint and the documents provided by the complainant.
• Documents provided by the Council and its comments in response to my enquiries.
• The Environmental Protection Act 1990.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant legislation

7. 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.
8. Councils normally expect people to move their bins to the pavement in front of their property, to allow it to be easily collected. However, a council may decide to provide an assisted collection to a person if they are unable to move their bins because of a disability. Under an assisted collection, the crew will enter the person’s property, such as their garden or driveway, to collect the bins, and then return them to their storage place afterwards.

The Council’s policies and procedures

9. The Council offers assisted collections for people who physically cannot move their bins. The bin must be visible from the road and cannot be obstructed, for example, behind a locked gate.
10. The Council collects rubbish bins weekly and recycling fortnightly.
11. The website advises residents to wait until 3pm the collection day before reporting a missed bin collection. Residents can do this online.

What happened

12. I have summarised below the key events; this is not intended to be a detailed account.
13. Mr X is registered for assisted bin collections. He uses a mobility scooter.
14. In late November 2023, Mr X complained the Council failed to collect rubbish regularly and had not collected his rubbish for four weeks. He said the Council did not collect his rubbish for six weeks at the end of October, and only collected it after he reported it. Mr X said there are no issues with his recycling collection.
15. The Council responded to his complaint within a few days. It apologised and explained there had been a temporary refuse crew collecting in the area. It said the Operations Manager was going to visit Mr X’s property to locate the bin and tell the crew its location.
16. At the beginning of December, Mr X said the Council was still not collecting his rubbish and the Council had not collected his rubbish the previous week. He asked the Council to investigate further and escalate his complaint.
17. The Council issued a stage two response in the middle of December. It reiterated its explanation and apology in its stage one response and urged Mr X to continue to report missed collections. The Operations Manager had spoken to the crew and was monitoring the situation.
18. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in late March 2024.
19. In conversation with Mr X in April, he told me the Council had not collected his rubbish in three months. He thought the Council may have collected once in the last six months. Mr X said he sends emails, writes letters and reports the missing collections on the telephone and said he had done this on at least six occasions. He said the service has not improved. He said his bin is visible from the road and the bin waggon comes past his property, but the crew does not take his rubbish. Mr X said he sometimes takes his rubbish on his mobility scooter to a friend’s property where he disposes of it. He said his bins were overloaded.
20. Mr X said it is frustrating as he must report the missed collection and find another way to dispose of the rubbish. He said it is a reminder of his disability which causes extra distress.
21. In response to my enquiries, the Council could not provide evidence it collected Mr X’s rubbish this year. Its system does not produce reports of this nature.
22. Between the beginning of January and the end of May, the Council said it has received one report of a missed collection from Mr X.
23. The Council said when a customer reports a missed collection, the information is sent to the Operations Manager to consider and arrange a catch-up collection where possible.
24. I asked the Council the reason for the missed collections. It said Mr X’s property was not on a regular round but has now been allocated to a specific vehicle which passes the bins weekly. In conversation with me in late August, Mr X said his bin had been collected for the last few weeks.
25. I also asked the Council what it intends to do to improve the service and ensure it does not miss future collections. It said it is introducing in-cab technology which can provide real-time reports of any customer reporting a missed collection. The system will reschedule missed collections and assign it to an appropriate crew. The Council is introducing this to residential collections over the next 12 months.

Analysis

26. Mr X complains the Council has not collected his rubbish consistently over the last year. The Council has not produced any evidence to show it collected Mr X’s rubbish during this time. I am satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, the Council has failed to collect Mr X’s bins regularly. The Council is at fault.
27. The Council said the Operations Manager visited Mr X’s property to locate the bin, spoke to the crew and was going to monitor the situation. This was in December 2023. The remedy did not work and the situation did not improve for Mr X. The Council should have done more to ensure it collected Mr X’s bins.
28. The Council said it has recently assigned a specific vehicle to collect Mr X’s rubbish, which it had not done previously. Since this time, Mr X reports the Council has collected his rubbish. This remedy has so far been successful.
29. The Council also explained a new system which should improve its future service.

Summary of fault causing injustice

30. The Council is at fault for failing to collect Mr X’s rubbish regularly. This has caused Mr X practical problems of disposing his rubbish which has mounted up. It has caused Mr X significant distress as it has been a reminder of his disability. It has also cost him time and trouble in reporting missed collections.
31. I am satisfied the Council has provided a working solution to ensure it collects Mr X’s rubbish consistently.

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Agreed actions

32. Within four weeks of my final decision the Council agreed to:
• Apologise to Mr X and pay him £300 for the practical issues and distress caused by its failure to collect his rubbish.
• Confirm it will monitor Mr X’s rubbish collections for the next three months to ensure the solution continues.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation. The Council is at fault for failing to collect Mr X’s rubbish.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman