Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s delay providing him with refuse bins. This is because the claimed injustice is not serious enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council took over one month to provide him with bins at his new property and did not tell him there would be a delay. Mr B says he had to make his own arrangements to dispose of his rubbish during this period. Mr B would like the Council to pay him compensation because he was paying council tax and did not receive the full service he paid for.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr B.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council apologised to Mr B for the delay providing the bins and the lack of communication about this. This was a suitable response from the Council.
7. The Council’s delay providing the bins caused Mr B some inconvenience. But, I find Mr B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify public money being spent on an investigation or the pursuit of a financial remedy by the Ombudsman.
8. Also, we do not expect councils to give council tax refunds if refuse has not been collected. This is because council tax is not based on the number of services a person receives.
9. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation or the pursuit of a financial remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman