Summary: Mr D says the Council has failed to resolve fly tipping near a property he rents out. The Ombudsman has discontinued the investigation because there is insufficient injustice and further investigation would not alter the outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Mr D) rents out a property near a private alleyway where waste is fly tipped. Mr D says the Council should resolve the problem, and his tenants have had vermin in their property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mr D.
4. I shared my draft decision with both parties and considered Mr D’s response.

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What I found

5. Mr D rents out a property on the same street where he resides. His home is several doors down from the site of fly-tipping which takes place by a private alleyway. He also rents out a property nearer to the alleyway. Mr D complained to the Council about the fly-tipping. The Council has explained to Mr D its role in removing waste from privately owned land and that it will continue to monitor and respond to reports.
6. I intend to discontinue the investigation because I do not see there is a significant injustice to Mr D. He says he had to pay for pest control at his rental property. We cannot say with any certainty the vermin are directly attributable to the fly-tipping or fault by the Council and so would be unable to ask the Council to pay Mr D redress. In addition, there is no direct injustice to Mr D as he does not live next to the fly-tipping site. Furthermore, we cannot add to what the Council has already set out for Mr D in respect of its actions and responsibilities.

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Final decision

7. I have discontinued the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman