Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council placed a sex offender in a flat in the same block that the complainant lives in. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council placed a sex offender in a flat in the block she lives in. Ms X wants compensation for the impact on her health, well-being and finances.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X which includes complaint responses provided by a different council. I also considered information provided by Dartford council.
4. I considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X owns her flat. A sex offender was placed in a flat in her block by a different council. Ms X says the presence of this person affected her health, well-being and finances. The offender no longer lives in the flat but Ms X wants compensation for the impact on her while he was living there.
6. In response to her complaint the Council explained it had not placed the person in the flat and it does not own, manage or control the flat. It said it had no control over who lives in the flat. The Council gave Ms X the contact details for the owners of the flat and said it had found out the flat is now empty. The Council told Ms X how to report anti-social behaviour and suggested she contact the police if she felt threatened.
7. I will not start an investigation because the Council did not place the person in the flat and was not involved with the planning or decision making prior to offering him the tenancy. The Council did not know anything about the person until Ms X made her complaint. It was a different council that arranged for the person to move to Ms X’s block. Ms X could make a complaint about the other council.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by Dartford Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman