Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to charge Mrs X a fee for clearing an allotment plot. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council unfairly charged her to clear an allotment plot after she ended her tenancy.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X rented an allotment plot from the Council. In July 2025, she told the Council she wanted to end the agreement. The Council reminded her that under the agreement she must remove all property and waste from the plot. The Council later inspected the plot and charged a clearance fee.
6. Mrs X says the clearance fee was unfair. She says the allotment plot was already overgrown when she took it on. She also says there were no records of the plot’s condition, and the Council has not explained what the clearing charge relates to.
7. The Council explained Mrs X had not left the plot in a reasonable condition so under the terms of its allotment policy and tenancy agreement it had applied charges. The Council provided photographs from its inspection of the plot which show significant amounts of plastic, wooden and other waste materials Mrs X had not removed from the plot. We could not therefore say the Council was at fault in the way it applied its policy on charging for removal.
8. The Council also said that Mrs X did not raise any concerns about the condition of the plot when she accepted the tenancy. It had been open to Mrs X to refuse to accept the allotment plot when the Council offered it to her, so we cannot consider that point now.
9. Mrs X also says the Council has not charged other people in the way it has charged her. The Council’s policy and tenancy agreement are clear it was entitled to charge Mrs X for the work it carried out. The way it has treated other people is not something the Ombudsman could or needs to consider.
10. I recognise Mrs X disagrees with the Council’s decision to charge her a clearance fee. However, I have not seen evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to charge Mrs X the clearance fee. If she wishes to dispute the matter it is open to her to resist payment and defend herself if the Council were to decide to take recovery action for the civil debt.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman