The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council failing to stop residents leaving their bins on an access road next to a house he owns. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in its decision not to take action, or sufficient personal injustice to Mr X caused by the matter, to warrant us investigating.
The complaint
Mr X owns a house next to an access road leading to a residential development. He complains the Council has failed to stop residents of the development leaving their bins on the access road, next to his property. Mr X wants the residents to stop leaving the bins there.
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; or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X, online images of the area involved, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Officers responded to Mr X’ concerns by visiting the area to investigate the road’s ownership, and the condition of the area where the bins are left. They determined the bins were not on highway land, or other land owned or controlled by the Council. As a result, officers had determined they had no powers to order residents to move the bins elsewhere. They also noted the area was tidy, without excess rubbish, which meant the matter did not raise an issue for environmental health officers to deal with.
There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council here to justify us investigating. Officers properly considered Mr X’s concerns and explained why they did not have powers to have the bins moved. I realise Mr X may disagree with the Council’s decisions. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
In any event, even if there has been Council fault here, the matters complained of do not cause Mr X sufficient personal to justify an investigation. Mr X owns but does not live at the house, so his daily life is not constantly affected by the presence of the bins. I recognise the bins may be an annoyance to Mr X when he visits the house. But that is not sufficient injustice to warrant us investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because: there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify us investigating; and even if there were Council fault, the matter does not cause Mr X a sufficient personal injustice which warrants investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman