Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Councils response to anti-social behaviour because there is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how the Council responded to her reports of anti-social behaviour. She also complains about complaint handling.

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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. In November 2025, Mrs X complained to the Council about a person living in their van on the road. She says the Council’s response was uncoordinated and took too long.
6. The Council said it was working with the person to find alternative accommodation and it visiting regularly to monitor any anti-social behaviour. It said it must consider their rights and act in line with its statutory duties.
7. Mrs X says she made an information request and found out the Council was working with other agencies. Community Protection Notices were issued, an arrest was made and a dog was seized.
8. In March 2026, the Council told Mrs X the person had left the site and that it had cleaned the land and asked a partner agency to clean land nearby.
9. I will not investigate this complaint. Based on the information I have seen, the Council took account of its statutory duties and followed the appropriate procedures. Therefore, I cannot criticise it.
10. Mrs X has complained about delay in complaint handling. The Council has apologised for the delay. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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Final decision

We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman