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Case ref:201606978
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Date:November 2017
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Body:The City of Edinburgh Council
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Sector:Local Government
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Outcome:Upheld, recommendations
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Subject:refuse collection & bins
Summary
Ms C complained to us about the council's failure to empty her communal food waste bins and their failure to investigate her complaint.
Ms C told us that the communal bins were overflowing and that there was no bin liner in the bin. The problem continued to persist for a long time and Ms C tried to raise a formal complaint with the council. The council did not provide Ms C with a final response to her complaint.
We found that the council failed to empty the communal food waste bins on numerous occasions over a protracted length of time. We also found that the council failed to thoroughly investigate Ms C's complaint and failed to provide a satisfactory response for their failings. We upheld Ms C's complaints.
The council told us that they had been in touch with Ms C regularly to ensure that the service was now satisfactory. We asked for evidence of this and did not make any further recommendations regarding bin pick-ups. However, we did make recommendations regarding the handling of Ms C's complaint.
Recommendations
What we asked the organisation to do in this case:
- Write to Ms C to apologise for failing to investigate her complaint in line with their procedures. They should provide an explanation for their failings.
In relation to complaints handling, we recommended:
- Complaints handling staff should be reminded of the complaints handling procedure.
We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.