Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his complaints of rats and litter in the area he lives causing distress and nuisance. We have found no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered these matters so have completed our investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant who I shall refer to as Mr X complains there were failings in the way the Council responded to his concerns about rats coming into the housing estate where he lives from a nearby alleyway. Mr X says the Council has failed to deal with the matter and rubbish that regularly collects in the alleyway from fly tipping. Mr X says the matter caused him distress, nuisance from rats and time and trouble in raising his complaints with the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
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. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated matters from September 2022 onwards when Mr X complained to the Council. I do not intend to investigate issues before this date even though Mr X has made previous complaints to the Council. This is because the complaints are late. It was open to Mr X to have complained to us about these matters before now. So, I do not consider there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to investigate these matters now. While I am not investigating matters before 2022, I have referred to previous complaints and events to provide background information and context.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr X and discussed the complaint with him. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Council’s procedure for dealing with complaints of vermin and fly tipping

8. The Council receives complaints from customers to its Contact Centre or directly logged onto the Council’s website. The customer relationship management (CRM) system ensures the reports are directed the correct team.
• The Pest Control team are sent reports of vermin on Council owned land.
• The Council’s waste contractor receives report of fly tipping on public land so it can be removed. When the complaint is a report of fly tipping it is passed to the Neighbourhood Compliance Team (Compliance team) to investigate before removing the waste.
• The Compliance team receives reports of fly tipping or waste on private land so it can ask the landowner to remove the waste and carry out enforcement if they fail to do so.
• Complaints received through councillors are passed the appropriate team to deal with.
• Issues with waste and fly tipping are also often picked up by Compliance Officers when they are monitoring the area.

Community Protection Notice

9. Councils and the police can issue Community Protection Notices (CPN) under the Anti-social behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The CPN’s are to prevent anti-social behaviour which is having a negative effect on the community's quality of life, and which they decide is unreasonable. CPNs require the behaviour to stop and, where appropriate, require the recipient to take reasonable steps to ensure it is not repeated. Failure to comply is an offence and may result in a fine or a fixed penalty notice.
10. Councils must issue a written warning in advance of the CPN. It is for the person issuing the written warning to decide how long is appropriate before serving a CPN. A CPN can be appealed in the Magistrates' Court within 21 days by the recipient if they disagree with the council’s decision.

Events leading to the complaint

11. What follows is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain all the information I reviewed during my investigation.

Background information

12. Mr X lives on a housing estate. He first complained to the Council in October 2019 about fly-tipping (not vermin) in an alleyway near to his home. The Council’s Compliance team inspected and found the land privately owned by several different people. This meant it had no responsibility to clear it but did so as a goodwill gesture. The Council reminded the landowners who were local businesses of their responsibility to keep the alleyway clean and free of waste.
13. The neighbourhood team visited again in January 2020 and tried to identify the source of the fly-tipping. The Council proposed a local community project to promote ownership of the local environment to reduce the fly tipping and waste. It arranged a community event in April 2020. However, the government imposed the first national lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic a week before the event was due to take place. So, the Council postponed and later cancelled the event.

Events from 2021

14. Officers carried out limited site visits during the Covid-19 pandemic. But did visit the area near to Mr X’s home and alleyway finding the waste mainly domestic or litter. So, in May 2021 the Council proposed an Active Streets event to promote the local environment again including the alleyway. The Active Streets scheme enables residents to transform their street into a community zone for an afternoon. The community held the Active Streets event in August 2021. The Council, local councillors and residents also organised a successful litter pick in the area and alleyway.
15. In July 2021 Mr X asked the Council to clear the alleyway of waste. The Council’s Compliance Team reminded the local businesses of their responsibility to clear the land and alleyway of waste. The team later considered whether it could take any action under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 (PDPA) and serve a notice on the landowners. The PDPA requires the Council to ‘take such steps as may be necessary to secure so far as practicable that their distract is kept free from rats and mice’. So, a council can take enforcement action against the owner or occupier of land if necessary to keep it free of rats and mice. The Council did not serve a notice as its officers did not see any rats when visiting the alleyway.

Events from 2022

16. In February and March 2022, the Compliance team visited the alleyway to consider ways to address the issues raised. This included arranging for local groups to manage the alleyway if it was cleaned and planters installed. The team met with councillors and other interested parties. The Council arranged for the Community Payback scheme to clean the alleyway when it had availability. The Compliance team visited the alleyway in March 2022 in partnership with local groups to remove any waste.
17. Mr X complained to the Council in September 2022 about the lack of Council action and waste monitoring. The Council confirmed it was monitoring the privately owned land, but found the waste was bottles and leaves so not sufficient for the Compliance team to serve any notices. But the landowners agreed to allow the Council to clear the land on a temporary basis and this was being arranged.
18. The Council confirmed officers had been actively visiting the area and holding meetings with local groups to turn it into a ‘cleaner, greener accessible space’. The Council was finding funding for the project and invited Mr X to attend the meetings to discuss it.
19. Mr X remained unhappy with the Council’s response and felt it did not answer his concerns. Mr X said the alleyway contained more than broken bottles and leaves causing rats to nest there. Mr X said it a danger to public health, and he had repeatedly raised the issue with the Council.
20. The Council advised Mr X to raise his reports of rats to the pest control team who dealt with vermin on common ground. The Council passed the complaint to the Compliance team to investigate. It told Mr X it would not add the land to the Council’s cleaning schedule as it was private. The Council explained the proposal to make the alleyway a greener space as the scheme was successful in deterring fly tipping. The Council continued to meet with a group to transform the alleyway into a community garden for residents.

Community Protection Notice

21. In November 2022 the Council decided to serve a Community Protection Notice warning to the landowners as there was no evidence who had left the waste. This required the landowners to arrange to clean the land, disposed of items and carry out fortnightly inspections. The Council considered the CPN warning notice was the most appropriate action to take as the issue was litter in a well-used, privately owned alleyway and ongoing rather than a one-off fly tip. The CPN puts responsibility on the owner to monitor the situation and ensure the land they own is kept clear of waste.
22. A Compliance officer visited in December 2022 and satisfied the landowners complied with the warning and completed a first clean. The officer continued to make weekly visits. The Council acted when a resident fly tipped waste in December 2022 and served a notice to get it removed. The officers checked the landowners’ business waste contracts and found they were in place.
23. The Council confirms that since serving the CPN warning letter the landowners have engaged and worked with the Council to identify long term solutions to the problems. Because of this the Council has not taken any further enforcement action.
24. The Council also gained funding to create a pocket park at the alleyway and consent from the landowners to go ahead with the scheme. It will start work on it soon and arranged a one-off waste clearance from the site. Officers will check the waste for evidence of those responsible for the fly tipping.
25. The Council accepts the alleyway has the correct conditions to harbour rats. But officers have not seen any rats when visiting the site. It offers residents a subsidised rat treatment plan for their homes and gardens. However, the Council reports its records show no resident in the area has requested a rat treatment plan in the past two years. A landowner would need to commission a rat treatment plan as it is privately owned, and the pest control service has no powers of enforcement. However, the Council will add the road near to the alleyway to its sewer baiting programme.

Assessment

26. The evidence provided shows the Council has responded to Mr X’s concerns about rats and waste in the alleyway. The land is privately owned so the Council has no responsibility for it. But it has taken action through visits by the Compliance team and pest control to assess the alleyway and issues raised according to its procedures in place. Through the procedures the Council has arranged cleaning, litter picks and investigated who may be responsible for the fly tipping. The Council has also carried out regular monitoring of the area.
27. After considering the issues raised the Council served a CPN warning to the landowners who have responsibility to clean the alleyway. The Council is satisfied with the landowners’ response and consider they are complying with the warning. So, it will not be taking any further enforcement action at present. While Mr X may disagree, it is a decision for the Council to take. We do not question the outcome of a decision unless we find evidence of fault in the way it was taken. I do not consider there is fault in this case.
28. This is because the documents show the Council considered Mr X’s concerns and information provided, officers visited and monitored the alleyway. The Council considered the landowners had complied with the CPN warning. So, there are no grounds for us to question the Council’s decision not to take any further enforcement action at present.
29. The evidence provided shows officers responded to Mr X’s complaints about rats and advised him to make a report to pest control. The Council confirms that the Compliance and pest control officers have not seen any rats on their visits to the alleyway. And they have not received any request for rat treatments plans from local residents for two years. There is no evidence of fault by the Council in its respond to Mr X’s complaints of rats in the area.
30. The Council has agreed to add the area to its sewer baiting programme for vermin. It is to turn the alleyway into a pocket park as a community space to encourage community responsibility for the site and reduce fly tipping. The Council has arranged for a further waste clearance from the site. I do not consider I can achieve anything more for Mr X through further investigation.

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Final decision

31. I have completed my investigation. There is no evidence of fault by the Council in its response to Mr X’s complaints of rats and litter in the area near to his home.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman