The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a fine for fly tipping. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X says the Council fined him £200 for fly tipping after he left bottles at the base of the recycling bin at a public site because the bin was full.
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 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X admits there is a sign warning about not leaving bottles near the recycling bin.
Mr X says he only saw this sign the next time he visited because during his first visit when he was fined, he was preoccupied with which bin to put the coloured bottles.
The sign provided sufficient warning to everyone using the facilities of the risk of being fined. As a result, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman