St Albans City Council (23 009 791)
Category : Environment and regulation > Health and safety
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a rat infestation. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained that the Council did not properly investigate reports that she made about rats in her area. Mrs X says that this is preventing her from enjoying her home and has led to difficulties in selling it. She would like the Council to believe her reports and take action.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X has previously complained to us about how the Council delt with a rat infestation. We investigated and found no evidence of fault. Following that, Ms X reported further concerns to the Council.
- In response the Council attempted to contact Mrs X’s neighbours, investigated a possible infestation linked to drains and arranged for bait boxes to be put in place. The Council investigated Mrs X’s concerns but were unable to find evidence of an infestation. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council considered her concerns to justify our involvement and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman