Milton Keynes Council (24 014 926)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about missed commercial waste collections by the Council. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints made by public bodies, which includes schools.
The complaint
- Mr X, on behalf of the school where he works, complained the Council missed commercial waste collections. He said this has resulted in rubbish piling up which is a health and safety risk. He wanted the waste to be collected weekly.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)
- We can only accept complaints from members of the public who claim to have suffered injustice, or from their authorised representative. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The school Mr X works for pays the Council for weekly waste collections.
- Mr X complained the Council missed three collections in a row, resulting in rubbish piling up.
- The Council responded to Mr X and apologised for the missed collections. It explained the reasons for the missed collections. It told him it made improvements to the service such as new schedules and moving the collection point. It said it expected this would result in fewer missed collections and it would monitor the impact of the changes.
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. Mr X complained on behalf of a school, and not as a member of the public. The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction by law to investigate a complaint made by a public body.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating matters made by a body constituted for the purposes of the public service, including schools.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman