Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s response to allotment bonfires near her home. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council is allowing people to light bonfires on allotments near her home. She says despite complaining to the Council it has not properly investigated the matter. She says the smoke and particles from the fires are having a negative impact on her and her family’s health and wellbeing. Mrs X wants the Council to review the rules around bonfires and ensure any complaints of nuisance are properly investigated.

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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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council considered the information and evidence Mrs X provided. It reviewed the concerns she raised and decided the evidence did not show a statutory nuisance. It explained the allotment site contains several plots, and its policy allows plot holders to have occasional bonfires during a limited period each year.
7. Mrs X also raised concerns that some fires had been left unattended. The Council considered those concerns but said the available evidence was inconclusive. The Ombudsman reaches findings on the balance of probabilities. Where the evidence is conflicting or insufficient to establish what happened, we are unlikely to find enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision because someone disagrees with it. Instead, we consider whether the organisation followed the correct process in reaching its decision. Where there is no evidence of fault in that process, we cannot question the merits of the decision itself. The Council considered the concerns raised by Mrs X and explained the reasons for its position. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached that decision to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman