Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing Mr X a fixed penalty notice because further investigation would not achieve any worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council issued him a fixed penalty notice (FPN) after he left a bag of waste beside a council bin. He says this has caused him financial hardship and he wants the Council to cancel or reduce the fine.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X accepts he left his waste by the bin but says he did this only because the bin itself was full. He says he was upset to receive a FPN for fly-tipping, but he has paid it. However he thinks the fine is too high.
6. I will not investigate this complaint. Mr X has accepted liability and paid the FPN issued to him. The amount is correct for the offence, and we cannot cancel or reduce the amount of the fine. If Mr X wished to challenge the notice, he could have withheld payment and presented his arguments in his defence in court. The Ombudsman is not an alternative to the court process.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely further investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman