Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to take enforcement action against his neighbour for fly tipping. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to take enforcement action against his neighbours for fly-tipping and leaving rubbish in an alleyway. He said some rubbish also ended up on his property. He said this had resulted in an infestation of rodents in his garden, the alleyway and in his property. He wants the Council to take stronger action against his neighbours.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. Mr X complained to the Council in late 2024 about how his neighbour was disposing of waste. In its complaint response, the Council said the alleyway was not publicly maintained, but a shared, private alleyway; therefore, any disagreement about it was not enforceable but a civil matter.
6. It said it had passed his concerns about fly tipping and disposal of waste to its Licensing and Inspection team who were responsible for dealing with private landlords. It said they would contact his neighbour’s Landlord about purchasing additional bins for the property.
7. The Council also confirmed it had completed an unannounced inspection of the property. It said it found no evidence of fly-tipping and had no concerns about the number of people living at the property. It said it had spoken to Mr X’s neighbours about noise and had asked them not to leave rubbish in the alleyway.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with his reports about his neighbour’s waste. The Council completed an unannounced visit, contacted the neighbour’s Landlord, and has taken steps to address the issues. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement. If it remains an issue, he would need to report this to the Council.
9. Mr X has subsequently contacted the Council with reports of noise nuisance. If he is unhappy with how the Council has dealt with these, he would need to exhaust the Council’s complaint procedure before we could consider the matter.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr 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