The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of an officer involved in the Council’s case against Mr X which resulted in the issuing of a Community Protection Notice. This is because Mr X had appeal rights to the Magistrates’ Court against the Notice so placing the complaint outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says an officer of the Council lied in his witness statement to the court in relation to the Community Protection Notice issued to him. He says the officer has generally been unprofessional and he wants the Council to assign him another officer in the future.
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) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The restrictions highlighted at paragraphs 3 and 4 above apply to Mr X’s complaint. If he had disagreed with the Council’s decision to issue him with a Community Protection Notice he could have appealed against it in the Magistrates’ Court. As he had this alternative remedy available to him, which we would reasonably have expected him to have used, the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.
Mr X says the officer lied in his witness statement to the court. However, we cannot investigate what happened in court.
Mr X says he wants the Council to assign a different officer to his case. Such a decision is for the Council, and not Mr X or the Ombudsman, to make.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had appeal rights against the issuing of the Community Protection Notice to the Magistrates’ Court so placing the complaint outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman