Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council serving a community protection notice on Mr Y in 2024. This is because an investigation is unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr Y says the Council decided he was fly tipping and then removed his personal property from his garden while he was away. Mr Y says he has been caused emotional and financial distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr Y complains about the Council’s actions towards him culminating in his property being removed by the Council. Mr Y says he was unaware the Council served a Community Protection Notice as he was abroad.
7. The Council has responded to Mr Y’s concerns. It notes he was away when the Notice was served but highlights the period before where a Community Protection Warning had been served. It says an officer inspected the garden four times after the Warning and there had been no improvement to the dumped waste in Mr Y’s Garden. Overall, the Council stands by its decision to serve a Community Protection Notice, which requested Mr Y remove the waste or risk the Council removing it.
8. We will not investigate. We normally expect complainants to use their statutory appeal rights to the magistrates’ court against the serving of the Community Protection Notice. While it may not be reasonable to expect Mr Y to have used his right of appeal, as he was away, it is open to him to contact the court to see if he has grounds to submit a late appeal.
9. My main reason for not investigating is that we are unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome. The Council has documented the actions it took including serving a warning and carrying out monitoring visits. These are the expected actions we would expect to see prior to any notice being served. The merits of the decision to serve the Community Protection Notice is a matter for the magistrates’ court and not via the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman