Summary: We have upheld Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to anti-social behaviour. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by investigating Mr X‘s concerns.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has not acted on his complaints about anti-social behaviour.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about anti-social behaviour. The Council response said Mr X should complain directly to the police.
6. If we investigated this complaint it is likely we would find fault with the Council causing injustice, because it did not investigate Mr X’s complaint in line with its policy. The Council’s policy says the Community Safety Team deals with antisocial behaviour complaints but in this case it simply referred Mr X to the police.
7. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by carrying out the following actions within one month of our decision:
• Apologise to Mr X
• Investigate his complaint.

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Agreed action

8. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and it will complete the actions at paragraph 7 within one month, to put things right.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman