Summary: Ms C complains the Council has failed to respond properly to her reports of an abandoned van and take appropriate action. Ms C says the van presents a potential safety issue, is unsightly and encourages fly tipping. The Ombudsman has found no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms C, complains the Council has failed to respond properly to her reports of an abandoned van and take appropriate action. Ms C says the Council has failed to follow government guidance about abandoned vehicles.
2. Ms C says because of the Council’s fault, the van presents a potential safety issue, is unsightly and encourages fly tipping.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’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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How I considered this complaint

6. I read the papers provided by Ms C and discussed the complaint with her. I have considered some information from the Council and provided a copy of this to Ms C after removing third party information. I have explained my draft decision to Ms C and the Council and considered the comments received before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Background

7. The Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 says someone abandoning a vehicle on any land in the open air without authority is guilty of an offence and can be fined.
8. The Act places a duty on councils to remove abandoned vehicles from land or roads in their area. It specifies that a “vehicle” includes any trailer intended or adapted for use as an attachment to a vehicle.
9. If a vehicle has been abandoned on private land the Act says a council must serve 15 days notice on the landowner of its intention to remove it. The council cannot remove a vehicle if the landowner objects.
10. The 15-day notice period does not apply if the vehicle is abandoned on a road or highway.
11. An authority does not have to remove an abandoned vehicle from land in the open air if the cost of moving it to the nearest highway is high.
12. An authority must decide if the vehicle is abandoned. There is no legal definition of what constitutes an abandoned car, but the authority will consider the following:

• does it have a keeper on DVLA’s database
• is it taxed/MOT’d
• has it been stationary for a significant amount of time
• is it obviously unroadworthy
• is it burned out
• does it have number plates

13. The decision on whether to classify a vehicle as being abandoned rests with the authority.

Key events

14. Ms C emailed the Council about vehicles and boats continuing to be left on an area of land in August 2017. There was also an issue of fly-tipping at this location. The boats and fly tipping were removed but a van remained.
15. Ms C reported the van again to the Council on 20 December 2018. The Council inspected the vehicle and did not consider it to be in a state of disrepair and noted it had number plates and an expired tax disc. The Council has provided photographs from this inspection.
16. The Council issued a seven-day notice to the vehicle on 1 January 2019. The registered keeper contacted the Council in response to the notice on 8 January to confirm ownership and to say the vehicle was not abandoned. The vehicle owner also stated the land it was parked on was unregistered.
17. The Council checked the land registry and confirmed the land was not registered. This meant it would not be able to obtain the landowner's permission to remove the vehicle. A local resident advised the Council they owned the land, but this was disputed. Ms C says the parish council has registered a caution on the land. This is likely to be a caution against first registration of the land which protects interests affecting unregistered land. In simple terms it requires the Land Registry to notify the person who has applied for the caution of an application to register the land. The Council has also contacted the County Council who do not accept responsibility for the land.
18. The Council requires the landowner’s permission to remove the vehicle which is not possible as the land is privately owned but unregistered and ownership is disputed.
19. The owner and registered keeper of the vehicle has contacted the Council.
20. The Council has noted the vehicle has been moved on occasion to the road adjacent to the land and so considers the vehicle to be drivable and it is not burnt out and has registration plates. The Council has also sought its own legal advice on the options available.
21. The Council has assessed in these circumstances that the vehicle is not classed as abandoned. The Council advised Ms C of the outcome and that it proposed no further action in July.
22. Ms C has provided more recent photographs which appear to show the rear window of the vehicle has been removed and that it has some type of gas canisters inside. The Council has confirmed that it does not consider the vehicle and canisters present sufficient risk to justify any other action.
23. It is for councils to decide if a car is abandoned or not. In this case, the Council carried out site inspections, contacted the vehicle owner and made checks about the ownership of the private land it was parked on. The case officer has used their professional judgement, based on the individual facts of the case and legal advice, to determine the car was not abandoned and no further action could be taken. This is a decision the Council is entitled to reach, and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it was taken. This means there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to criticise the Council’s decision or require it to take action.
24. Even if I had found fault in the way the Council made its decision, I do not consider that would have caused Ms C a significant personal injustice. I recognise Ms C considers the vehicle is unsightly and a potential safety risk but it is not blocking her driveway or the road or pavement and its presence does not cause her significant practical inconvenience or problems.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation as have found no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman