Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of matters relating to an Abatement Notice issued to Ms X. This is because the substantive issue falls outside our jurisdiction due to the availability of a court remedy.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions in issuing her with an Abatement Notice in respect of a statutory nuisance following a complaint by tenants living in her property. She says the Council should have withdrawn the Notice rather than revoked it as it should not have been issued in the first place.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council issued Ms X with an Abatement Notice following a complaint from her tenants. The tenants then moved out the property so the Council revoked the Notice.
7. Ms X complained to the Council that it should not have issued the Notice in the first place and that it should be withdrawn rather than revoked so that reference to it is removed from the record.
8. The Council explained it had decided the Notice was necessary following an officer assessment and that the way to have challenged its issue would have been through the Magistrates’ Court.
9. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Ms X’s complaint. As she had the opportunity of obtaining a remedy in a court of law which we would reasonably have expected her to have used, the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.
10. Ms X complains about the way her complaint was handled by the Council. There was delay and it apologised for this. However, we will not investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the substantive issue falls outside our jurisdiction due to the availability of a court remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman