Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Fixed Penalty Notice for an alleged littering offence. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement and Mr X could have used his right to raise a defence against the issuing of the Notice in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council issued him with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for an alleged littering offence without enough evidence.
2. Mr X also complained the Council did not consider his complaint in line with its complaints procedure.
3. Mr X said the matter caused significant distress and a financial impact.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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))
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained the Council issued him with an FPN for an alleged littering offence, without enough evidence.
9. A person who receives a FPN for an alleged littering offence may either pay the FPN or wait for the Council to pursue the matter in court. If the Council starts court action, the person can challenge the FPN in court. 
10. Mr X chose to pay the FPN in full and seeks a refund as an outcome to this complaint.
11. The Ombudsman cannot tell the Council it should refund Mr X for the FPN, nor can we tell it the FPN should not have been issued. I therefore consider there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating this complaint.
12. In any case, if Mr X had not paid for the FPN he could have raised a defence against it in court, if the Council pursued it.
13. For these reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.
14. As we will not investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating and he could have used his right to raise a defence against the issuing of the Notice in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman