Lincoln City Council (24 018 521)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue a Community Protection Notice and refusal to discuss his concerns. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complainant had the right to appeal to the magistrate court against the Community Protection Notice. We consider it reasonable for him to have exercised this right.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council:
- Discriminated against him and lied about him; and
- Issued an unlawful Community Protection Notice (CPN).
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. He has the right to take his case to court to challenge the Council’s decision to issue him with a CPN which we would reasonably expect him to do. The complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman