Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a report of antisocial behaviour. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that she was issued with a community protection warning notice and that a referral has been made to children’s services after the Council received a report of antisocial behaviour.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council received a report of antisocial behaviour after an incident occurred involving Miss X and her neighbour. The Council subsequently issued Miss X and her neighbour with a community protection warning notice and made a safeguarding referral to the Council’s children’s services concerning Miss X’s family.
6. Miss X complains that the Council’s decision to issue a community protection warning notice was not appropriate as the incident was a one-off dispute between her and her neighbour. Miss X also complains that the Council failed to make a safeguarding referral about her neighbour’s family.
7. Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s decision and believes the notice should be withdrawn and that children’s services should be informed of this. When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members when there is no fault. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions.
8. The Council issued the warning letter and made the safeguarding referral after considering all the information including video footage of the incident. It has explained to Miss X that no safeguarding referral was made about her neighbour’s family because it had not seen any evidence that children were present during the incident. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council reached this decision and we will therefore not investigate Miss X’s complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman