Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about contaminated and dumped rubbish by Mr B’s garage. There is not enough evidence of a significant injustice to justify an Ombudsman investigation. It is also unlikely we would add anything to the actions the Council is already taking.

The complaint

1. Mr B says the Council failed to deal with residents contaminating bins and dumping rubbish by his garage. Mr B says this is a fire risk to his garage. Mr B says the bins attract rats and he worries his dog will pick one up and get ill. Mr B says the bins are unsightly and affect house prices. Mr B wants the Council to put a stop to it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. Mr B says the issues have been ongoing for four years. There is no good reason Mr B could not have complained sooner and so we will not consider his concerns going back four years. We will limit our consideration to the twelve months prior to contacting us.
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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We do not investigate all 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.
8. Mr B worries about what might happen to his garage, his dog, and his house value. This potential future impact is speculative and not significant enough to justify our involvement.
9. The Council is taking actions it considers necessary to deal with this situation. The Council cannot guarantee the actions it takes will prevent people from ever leaving waste by Mr B’s garage or contaminating the bins there. An Ombudsman investigation is unlikely to add to that or achieve anything further, so cannot achieve the outcome Mr B wants.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is not enough injustice to justify an Ombudsman investigation. The Council is taking necessary action, and it is unlikely we would add to that or achieve anything further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman