Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint that he has paid for garden waste collections which he has not received. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr C complains the Council is asking him to pay the annual fee for the garden waste collection service even though he paid this fee in June 2024. Mr C says he has not received the 12 months of collections he paid for. Mr C would like the Council to either continue collecting his garden waste until June 2025, or issue a pro rata refund for the period when he did not receive collections he had paid for in 2024.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr C and information on the Council’s website about the Council’s garden waste collection service.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Councils are not required to collect garden waste but it is a service a council may provide and councils are allowed to charge residents to use such a service.
6. The Council’s garden waste collection service runs from January to December. Residents must pay a fee of £59 each year to use this service.
7. The service terms and conditions say the full annual subscription fee is required whatever date the subscription was taken out either before or within the relevant service year.
8. The terms and conditions do not say a pro-rata refund will be given if a person pays the annual subscription fee during the service year.
9. The Council’s handling of this matter is in line with the terms and conditions of this scheme. It is for the Council to decide how to operate this service and it is not the role of the Ombudsman to tell the Council to run this service differently.
10. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman