The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation and clean-up of land which the complainant reported had been contaminated by asbestos. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. Nor could we add to the Council’s own investigation of the matter.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mrs G, says the Council: Ignored her concerns about her neighbour demolishing his garage and burying several tons of asbestos concrete sheeting in a country park.
Used public funds to pay to clear up the asbestos Refuses to communicate with her about the ownership and sale of the land
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs G and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We cannot determine who owns the land. Mrs G is free to provide the Council with information such as copies of deeds if she wishes to do so.
The Council did not own the garages, nor commission the demolition. It cannot confirm if there were bats on the site before the building was dismantled.
There is no evidence of significant delay between Mrs G’s report of buried asbestos on Council land in October, the Council’s investigation, and the clean up by licensed operatives the following January.
The Council confirms Mr G can make an offer to buy the land when it is put on the market for sale.
The use of Council funds to pay for the clean up of the asbestos does not cause a significant personal injustice to Mrs G.
Final decision
Subject to any comments Mrs G might make, my view is we Should not investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions. Also, we could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman