Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council investigated anti-social behaviour. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about how the Council dealt with her concerns over her neighbours’ use of bird feeders, which she said was causing her a nuisance. She is unhappy the Council decided to investigate her concerns as an anti-social behaviour issue and not an environmental protection concern. Ms X also said the Council had not followed its policy and was harassing her.

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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 or may decide not to continue with 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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X contacted the Council about her neighbours’ bird-feeding stations. The Council’s Environmental Service reviewed the information provided and decided the issues raised were accusations of anti-social behaviour and would be best dealt with through the anti-social behaviour (ASB) team.
6. An ASB Officer visited Ms X to investigate her concerns. They decided the number of bird-feeding stations was not excessive, and there was no evidence that excessive groups of birds were causing a nuisance. It decided there were no grounds to take enforcement action. The Council ended its investigation.
7. Although Ms X is unhappy with how the Council considered her complaint, we will not investigate. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council investigated her concerns to justify our involvement. The Council considered the information provided and visited Ms X before it made its decision. Ms X is unhappy about the complaint handling but it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not dealing with the substantive issue.
8. Ms X also complained about the Council’s conduct and said it was harassing her. We expect a complainant to have exhausted the Council’s complaint procedure before we will consider a matter. There is nothing to suggest Ms X has completed the Council’s complaint process, therefore we will not consider this complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman