West Dorset District Council (18 017 908)

Category : Environment and regulation > Antisocial behaviour

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 23 Jun 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr C complained about the way the Council managed the Community Trigger process for considering a report he made about anti-social behaviour. I have discontinued this complaint, because The Community Trigger process falls under the remit of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), a multi-agency body. The Ombudsman cannot investigate the actions or decisions of the CSP.

The complaint

  1. Mr C complains about the Council’s actions in relation to a Community Trigger meeting, which was convened to discuss a report he had made about anti-social behaviour. Mr C complained about how the process was managed before and after the meeting, and what information was discussed during the meeting.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
  • it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
  • it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
  • we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

  1. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Community Safety Partnerships. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. As part of the investigation, I have:
    • considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mr C; and
    • considered documents provided by the Council; and
    • communicated with Mr C about his complaint.
  2. I also sent a draft version of this decision to both parties, and invited their comments.

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What I found

Relevant law and policy

  1. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014) gave residents and communities a say in the way agencies deal with anti-social behaviour. It introduced ‘Anti-Social Behaviour Case Reviews’ (also referred to as Community Triggers).
  2. The Pan Dorset Community Trigger Policy explains what agencies can be involved in the Pan-Dorset Community Trigger. These agencies include:
    • The local borough and district councils; and
    • Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group; and
    • Dorset Police.
    • Social Housing Providers
  3. The policy explains that there is no right of direct appeal within the Community Trigger Procedure.

What happened

  1. Mr C says he has suffered from antisocial behaviour from his neighbour more than 3 years, and that nothing had been done to resolve the problem. He therefore applied for his case to be reviewed under the Community Trigger process.
  2. The Community Trigger meeting was administered by the Council’s Single Point of Contact (SPoC), who liaised with Mr C but did not attend the meeting. In attendance were representatives from MR C’s housing association, the Council and the police. The meeting was chaired by an independent officer.
  3. The Trigger meeting report was prepared by the independent chair of the meeting. It records that all three agencies discussed information that they held regarding Mr C’s complaint. It concluded that the police and housing association had dealt with the matter appropriately, and that the Council had investigated Mr C’s noise nuisance complaints on 3 occasions and found no evidence of a statutory nuisance.
  4. The Council wrote to Mr C to inform him of the outcome of the meeting and provided him with a copy of the report.
  5. Mr C complained that he was dissatisfied with the outcome and requested an appeal. Mr C also asked for the name of the independent chair of the meeting to be provided as well as the name of the representative from the police.
  6. Mr C complained that he wasn’t given the opportunity to attend the meeting and that his local Councillor and Ofcom should also have been invited. Mr C complained that the representatives from his housing association should not have attended, because he had recently complained to the Housing Ombudsman about them.
  7. Mr C says that relevant information was not considered at the meeting, including a statement which he had provided and important criminal information.

Analysis

  1. The Ombudsman cannot investigate the actions of some multi-agency bodies. This includes Community Safety Partnerships. The Ombudsman only has jurisdiction to consider the individual actions of the Council.
  2. The Ombudsman cannot consider the collective decisions and recommendations made by the attendees, and while Council officers were in attendance, this was via their role as part of the CSP.
  3. Furthermore, we cannot investigate the role of the independent chair. We would therefore not be able to investigate what information was or was not discussed at the meeting, or the contents of the chairs report. This is because the chair was not a Council officer.
  4. Having reviewed the Council’s complaints correspondence, I am satisfied that they have providing accurate responses as to why he and others could not attend the meeting and that there was no appeals process.

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Final decision

  1. I have discontinued my investigation. This is because the complaint is about the actions and decision of a multi-agency body which is outside the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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