Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to clear litter from land close to his home. This is because the issue does not cause Mr X significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s clearing of litter in his area. He is concerned the Council’s approach to the issue will result in a gradual deterioration of the area. He is also unhappy with the Council’s handling of his complaint about the matter.

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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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
7. While I appreciate Mr X believes the Council should do more to clear litter and ensure the area is maintained to a higher standard, I do not consider the issue has caused Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.
8. If however Mr X wishes to pursue the matter it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court. Section 91 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 allows any person aggrieved by litter to serve notice on the relevant litter authority and apply to the magistrates court and if the court accepts the application they may make an order requiring the Council to clean the land.
9. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issue does not cause Mr X significant injustice and if he wishes to pursue it, it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman