Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of reports of rats in Ms X’s garden. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council has not provided the information she requested concerning a report it received of rat activity around her property. She says because of this she felt compelled to arrange her own pest control inspection and wants the cost of it reimbursed.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council, including its response to her complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. On receiving a report of rat activity in the vicinity of Ms X’s garden, the Council sent Ms X a letter which explained it had received an allegation of rat activity and that the allegation would be investigated.
7. Upset that she had received such a letter, Ms X sought details of who had made the report to the Council and felt compelled to arrange for her own pest control inspection.
8. In response to her complaint about these matters, the Council explained she would receive a response to her FOI request regarding the report and that if she was dissatisfied with the response, she could contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It also explained that it had a statutory duty to investigate the report made to it and that it would not reimburse her for the costs of the inspection she had arranged.
9. While I understand Ms X was distressed to receive the letter, the sending of it is not evidence of fault by the Council. It acted in accordance with normal procedures and it is not obliged to pay for the inspection Ms X decided to arrange.
10. Ms X made an FOI request to the Council which it will respond to. If it refuses her request, she can contact the ICO. As this is the body best placed to deal with such issues, we will not investigate it.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman