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Antisocial behaviour Maladministration causing injustice
28 July 2005
‘Mr and Mrs Cunningham’ (not their real names), who were owner occupiers, complained about the Council’s response to reports of antisocial behaviour made against their neighbours who were council tenants. In particular, they complained about the length of time and methods used by the Council to investigate the reports of antisocial behaviour, and the Council’s decision to issue and then withdraw a notice of seeking possession against its tenants. The decision by the Council to withdraw possession action took place at the same time as the Cunninghams’ neighbours pursued an application to purchase their property under the right to buy scheme that later completed. The Cunningham’s neighbours were subsequently convicted of the criminal offence of harassment.
The Ombudsman considered that the Council should have done more to establish the nature and extent of the nuisance, and that its decision to withdraw possession proceedings did not take account of all evidence it had available to it. The subsequent conviction of the Cunninghams’ neighbours for harassment casts doubt upon the judgement of the Council that a possession action would not have succeeded. The complainants therefore have a justifiable sense of outrage over the Council’s actions.
The Council agreed to apologise to the Cunninghams and pay them £2,000 compensation, which the Ombudsman considers would provide a satisfactory remedy for the injustice.
Date Updated: 27/04/09
are in .pdf format. To view these files you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. It can be downloaded below free of charge. Click To Download