Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response after the complainant reported an untidy house in his road. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s response after he reported an untidy house. Mr X wants the Council to contact the owner and the tenant and force them to tidy up. Alternatively Mr X wants the Council to take action under anti-social behaviour (ASB) legislation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and photographs of the house. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Mr X reported the condition of a house to the Council. He referred to a low quality fence and some bags of rubble and rubbish on the drive. Mr X describes the property as an eye sore.
5. The Council’s planning service inspected the house and explained the fence does not require planning consent and the small pile of rubbish did not breach any planning rules. In further correspondence the Council explained why the condition of the site does not warrant action and does not meet the threshold for action under planning legalisation.
6. The Council told me that its ASB team has considered the reports and said that the property does not need any action under ASB legislation.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded appropriately by inspecting the site and explaining why it will not and cannot take any action. I have considered the photographs provided by Mr X and agree with the Council that they show a relatively minor issue, namely a poor quality fence and a small number of rubbish bags. Enforcement action has to be justified by degree and legislation; I see no suggestion of fault in the Council’s decision that that threshold is not met.
8. We do not act as an appeal body and cannot intervene simply because a council makes a decision that someone disputes.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman