Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about the way the Council has dealt with an anti-social behaviour matter. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters that have been the subject of court proceedings or relate to the Council’s actions in the management of social housing.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr B, complains the Council has:
• taken out an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction (ASBI) against him for having CCTV and doing things his neighbours do with no sanction
• applied tenancy restrictions and then started eviction proceedings against him, hounding him out of the home he wanted to buy under the Right to Buy scheme
• failed to consider the evidence he has provided that he is the victim of crime and harassment by his neighbours.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr B provided when he made his complaint and a previous complaint Mr B raised with the Ombudsman. I sent a draft decision to Mr B and invited comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

6. Mr B complains he has been the victim of anti-social behaviour, crime and harassment by his neighbours for many years. But he says the Council has failed to take any action against his neighbours and is instead acting against him.
7. While Mr B does not believe the Council has treated him fairly, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint.
8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters that have been the subject of court proceedings. The Council has taken out an ASBI against Mr B and a court hearing took place in August 2019. The Ombudsman has no power to investigate any matter that has been the subject of court proceedings.
9. The Ombudsman also cannot investigate Mr B’s complaints the Council has applied tenancy conditions and then started eviction proceedings against him. These actions relate to the Council in its capacity in the management of social housing and the Ombudsman has no power to investigate.
10. Mr B’s general complaint about the way the Council has dealt with his concerns about his neighbours is not one the Ombudsman can separate from the court proceedings or the Council’s decisions as his landlord. And the police are better placed to investigate Mr B’s complaints that he is the victim of harassment and crime.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters that have been the subject of court proceedings or relate to the Council’s actions in the management of social housing.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman