Summary: We have completed our investigation. The Council was at fault. It failed repeatedly to provide an assisted collection refuse service to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and make a symbolic payment to her. It will monitor Mrs X’s collections to make sure the issues are resolved and carry out an internal review.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Councils failure to collect her refuse and recycling and its repeated failure to return her refuse and recycling containers to her property.
2. She said the containers should be returned as part of the Councils assisted collection service.
3. Mrs X also complained about the Councils system for reporting problems with refuse collection.
4. Mrs X and her husband are unable to move the containers and rely on the assisted collection service. She complained this is causing ongoing inconvenience.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. 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)
6. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A), and 25 (7) as amended)
7. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Law and guidance

10. 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.
11. The Councils practice is to make weekly recycling collections and fortnightly household waste collections. The Council has an arrangement with an external company that is uses to deliver the refuse service to its residents. I will refer to this company as provider B.
12. 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.
13. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and recycling boxes independently.

What happened

14. The following information is relevant to the complaint being investigated. It is a summary. It is not a list of everything that happened.
15. Mrs X and her husband are of older age. They have health problems that mean they cannot move their bins and recycling containers.
16. Mrs X has received assisted refuse collections from the Council for over 25 years.
17. In March 2024 Mrs X reported to the Council that her bins had not been collected.
18. Mrs X was told the bins would be collected a few days later. Despite her neighbour’s bins being collected, this did not happen.
19. Mrs X made a complaint to the Council at the end of March.
20. In April the problems continued. Mrs X continued to complain to the Council about her collections. Not only were collections being missed, but at times, the containers and bins were not being returned to her property. This was a part of her assisted collection.
21. An advocate for Mrs X raised their concerns with the Council in April as well.
22. In April the Council recorded that it could not find Mrs X’s address on its system for assisted collections.
23. A few weeks later the provider (provider B) of the refuse service, a company contracted by the Council, contacted Mrs X directly. It appeared to be making a response to her complaint. It apologised to Mrs X. It told her the crews had been spoken to. It invited Mrs X to contact it again, should the problems continue.
24. The same problems continued throughout April.
25. Mrs X contacted both provider B and the Council to try and resolve the issues.
26. The Council contacted Mrs X at the end of April acknowledging her request for a review of the complaint response.
27. In May provider B failed to collect Mrs X’s waste again.
28. In June the Council made its response to Mrs X at stage two of its complaint procedure.
29. The Council apologised to Mrs X for the distress caused by its failings. It upheld her complaint. It explained it had requested for supervisors to monitor her collections for four weeks. It signposted Mrs X to the Ombudsman.
30. The problems with missed collections continued. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in August 2024.
31. The Council said Mrs X’s address was monitored again in October 2024.
32. Mrs X reported the same problems continuing through December and into January 2025.

My findings

33. For at least three months out of the last 12, Mrs X has only had her household waste collected once. She has had a months’ worth of rubbish at her home, and no way to remove it, on several occasions.
34. Council records were incorrect. The system recorded Mrs X did not receive assisted collections in April. This could have been partly to blame for the missed collections around this time. The Council has not commented on this or provided any explanation about why the issue occurred.
35. The Council has, however, told me about a range of changes it has made in the refuse service since May 2024. This was to try to reduce issues such as those Mrs X experienced. The Council said following issues with recruitment, it made further changes in July. This was to try to streamline the complaints process and enable swift action by its staff.
36. In summary, the following changes took place:
• Internal administration, monitoring and record keeping was evaluated, adapted and improved,
• Reports of missed collections, including assisted collections, were sent to provider B on a weekly basis,
• Weekly meetings took place with provider B to monitor and evaluate issues as they arose, and
• Monthly meetings took place with provider B to consider issues / themes on a wider level.
37. It appeared management made changes to enable routine oversight of issues with refuse collection. The commitment to explaining the work carried out, to date, to the Ombudsman, was appreciated.
38. However, despite these changes, and despite the Council monitoring refuse collection, for at least two 4-week periods in the last 12 months, problems for Mrs X were not resolved. In fact, the problems are ongoing.
39. The changes made by the Council to rectify the problem were ineffective.
40. The injustice caused went beyond the annoyance of an ad hoc missed bin collection. The council repeatedly gave reassurances it would deal with the problem. A further aggravating factor was Mrs X’s vulnerability and her subsequent need for an assisted collection.
41. I found fault with the Council’s delivery of the assisted collection service for Mrs X. This fault caused injustice in the form of distress and is an ongoing issue for Mrs X.

Back to top

Action

42. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services, we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions. Where we find fault with the actions of the service provider, we can make recommendations to the council alone. Here we have found fault with the actions of provider B and make the following recommendations to the Council.
43. To remedy the injustice to Mrs X from fault by the Council, it has agreed to, within four weeks of a final decision, take the following actions:
• Apologise to Mrs X in line with our guidance on Making an Effective Apology. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Monitor Mrs X’s refuse and recycling collections and continue to do so for 8 weeks. This should be carried out by a supervisor or a manager, with responsibility for implementing change, should action need to be taken, and
• Make a symbolic payment to Mrs X of £300 to recognise the distress caused by fault of the Council.
44. Within twelve weeks of a final decision the Council should:
• Carry out a review of the issues Mrs X has had with her assisted collections, (to cover at least the last 12 weeks) and determine the cause of the issues,
• Work with provider B to review its waste collection monitoring arrangements to ensure they are robust and effective in identifying and resolving any problems and in improving service levels, and
• Ensure the review and associated action plan, is considered monthly at the contract meetings between provider B and the Council. Ensure this takes place over the next 12 months to enable a meaningful period of monitoring.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Decision

46. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take several actions to remedy the injustice suffered by Mrs X.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman