Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue Mr X a Community Protection Warning. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion. Even if we did, we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council did not consider his disability when it decided to issue him a Community Protection Warning (CPW). He says he feels like he was treated unfairly because of his disability. He wants the Council to withdraw the warning, apologise and pay him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In April 2024, the Council decided to issue a CPW to Mr X and his neighbours.
8. Mr X complained to the Council in July 2024 about how it handled the matter. This appeared to be resolved when the Council decided Mr X’s neighbour breached the CPW and issued them with a Community Protection Notice (CPN). Mr X did not complain about the Council’s decision to issue a CPW to himself until August 2025. Mr X says the Council should have issued his neighbour with a CPW sooner, and did not take his disability into account before issuing the CPW.
9. The law says people must complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. It was open to Mr X to pursue his complaint about being issued with a CPW in 2024. This complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate.
10. Even if we did, we would be unlikely to find fault in how the Council decided to issue Mr X with a CPW because it said it did not have evidence of Mr X’s disability so it could not take this into account.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion. Even if we did, we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman