Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice the complainant received when his refuse was found on the floor in a communal bin area. This is because the courts were better placed to decide the matter.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council issuing him with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) when it found some of his refuse on the floor in a communal bin area. Mr X believes the FPN was issued without proper investigation or due process, and says the situation has caused significant stress and anxiety.

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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 impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council issued Mr X with a FPN under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act, when it found an item of refuse displaying his name on the ground in a communal bin area.
6. Mr X wrote to the Council, denying any wrongdoing. He felt his refuse could have been tampered with by someone else. The Council maintained the FPN had been correctly issued, and explained he could either dispute the matter further in court, or pay the fine.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because he could have raised a defence against the issuing of the FPN in court, rather than paying the fine which discharged his liability to prosecution. We are not an appeal body, and we cannot decide whether Mr X was liable for the alleged offence. This is what the court would have considered had the FPN not been paid and the matter progressed to court. This was the appropriate route to use to challenge the FPN.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the courts were better placed to consider the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman