Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council issued a Community Protection Warning, followed by a further warning of a Community Protection Notice, without any evidence against her. We found that a Community Protection Notice was later issued, which Mrs X could have appealed in court. Based on this evidence, we have discontinued our investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council issued a Community Protection Warning (CPW), followed by a further warning of a Community Protection Notice (CPN), against her and her family, without having (or sharing) any evidence against them.
2. She also complained about the conduct of the Council officer who issued the CPW, the imposition of restrictions on her contact with the Council, and the Council’s failure to respond to her complaints.
3. Mrs X said the Council’s actions caused her and her family ongoing distress and anxiety. She wanted the CPW and the CPN warning to be retracted.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by Mrs X, including documents sent between her and the Council, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. I talked to Mrs X about her complaint.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and Guidance on Jurisdiction.
11. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on the draft decision statement before I issued my final decision.

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What I found

Law, policy and guidance

12. Councils and the police can issue community protection notices (CPN) to prevent anti-social behaviour which is unreasonable and having a negative effect on the community's quality of life. A CPN requires the behaviour to stop and, where appropriate, requires the recipient to take reasonable steps to stop it happening again. Not complying is an offence and may result in a fine or a fixed penalty notice.
13. Councils must issue a written warning (described as a ‘community protection warning’ or ‘CPW’) in advance of a CPN. The council should decide how long after the written warning to wait before serving a CPN. A person can appeal a CPN in the magistrates' court within 21 days of receiving it if they disagree with the council’s decision.

What happened

14. Mrs X said that a CPW was issued to her and her family on 3 June 2024, relating to inconsiderate parking and CCTV overlooking areas outside of property boundaries.
15. The Council also visited Mrs X’s property on 1 July and gave her a further warning that a CPN would be issued if she did not adjust her CCTV.
16. When I spoke to Mrs X on the phone in April 2025, she told me that she been issued with a CPN on 7 October 2024, as a result of not showing officers a live CCTV feed when asked to do so. This was considered a breach of the CPW.

Analysis

17. The recipient of a CPN has the right to appeal it to the Magistrates’ Court within 21 days. For this reason, we would generally expect a complainant to appeal, rather than complain, about receiving a CPN; although we should naturally consider whether it is reasonable for the complainant to appeal, or whether there are secondary issues we might investigate.
18. Mrs X has a right to seek a remedy by way of proceedings in Magistrate’s Court, which means her complaint falls outside our jurisdiction by virtue of section 26(6)(c) of the Local Government Act 1974. I consider it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to use this remedy.
19. As we will not investigate the issuing of the CPN, there is no worthwhile outcome to be gained by investigating the issuing of the CPW that led to the CPN. Further, if we were to investigate the issuing of the CPW, we would risk looking at issues that could be considered as part of the appeal in Court.
20. For these reasons, therefore, I have discontinued my investigation of Mrs X’s complaint.

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Decision

21. I have discontinued my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman