Leeds City Council (21 010 619)
Category : Environment and regulation > Antisocial behaviour
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s reports of anti-social behaviour. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s response to his reports of anti-social behaviour by various residents which he first raised in 2019.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, including its responses to his complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he has been complaining about anti-social behaviour to the Council since May 2019. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to these earlier complaints because Mr X could have complained to us sooner and I see no grounds which warrant exercising discretion to investigate them now.
- With regard to the more recent complaint Mr X made this year, the Council responded appropriately. It asked Mr X to complete a nuisance diary, setting out the information it would need to take its investigation further. It is for Mr X to decide whether to engage with this process. I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in its handling of this matter or that it failed to follow its normal procedures.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman