Summary: The Council’s failure to follow its Community Trigger process in response to Ms X’s request was fault. The Council has already taken satisfactory action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her request to initiate the Community Trigger in relation to ongoing Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) at her home.
2. As a result, Ms X says she experienced avoidable delays and continued to be in fear at her home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the complaint and the information Ms X provided.
6. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance.
7. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Community Trigger

8. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced a mechanism to review the handling of complaints of anti-social behaviour (ASB). This is commonly known as the ‘Community Trigger’ process. When a person requests a review, relevant bodies (which may include the council, police and others) should decide whether the local threshold has been met.
9. If the threshold has been met, the relevant bodies should undertake the review. They should share information, consider what action has already been taken, decide whether more should be done, and then inform the complainant of the outcome. If they decide to take more action, they should create an action plan. It is for relevant local bodies to agree their review threshold, but the ASB statutory guidance says this should be, at a maximum, that a complainant has made three reports of ASB within six months.
10. We can only consider councils’ actions in an ASB case review. Any contribution made by other relevant bodies, such as the police, is not in our jurisdiction.

The Council’s process

11. The Council’s Community Trigger threshold is three reports of ASB in six months, where the most recent incident occurred in the last month.
12. The Council’s policy says it will:
• Acknowledge the request in two working days
• Convene a panel to review the case within 10 working days
• Report the outcome and any proposed actions within 12 working days

What happened

13. In May 2021 Ms X asked the Council to initiate the Community Trigger process in relation to ASB in her home.
14. The Council did not respond to Ms X’s request. So in June, she asked again.
15. When the Council did not start the Community Trigger process, Ms X complained to the Council.
16. In response to her complaint, the Council accepted that it had failed to follow its Community Trigger process in Ms X’s case.
17. The Council apologised and agreed to allocate Ms X’s case to a Senior Community Safety Officer to review the case alongside the police and other relevant bodies. It also said it had provided further training to its staff on the correct procedures.

My findings

18. The Council’s failure to initiate the Community Trigger process was fault. The Council accepted this fault when it investigated Ms X’s complaint.
19. To remedy the injustice to Ms X, the Council agreed to review her case.
20. When remedying injustice, the Ombudsman seeks to put the complainant back into the position they would have been in were it not for the fault. In this case, the Council’s remedy achieves this.
21. I therefore find that the Council has already sufficiently remedied the injustice to Ms X from its failures.

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Final decision

22. I have completed my investigation. The Council was at fault but has already taken action to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman