Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to investigate the actions of the allotment chairman following reports he made. We found fault with the Council for delays in investigating Mr X's concerns and failure to complete promised monitoring. We also found fault with the Council’s complaint handling. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £250 for the uncertainty and frustration its fault caused. The Council also agreed to review its Community Trigger procedure to ensure this is aligned with the relevant guidance and legislation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has failed to investigate the actions of the allotment chairman following reports he made to it.
2. Mr X says other residents have made similar complaints to the Council and has accused the chairman of committing hate crimes and threats of violence against him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint about an ongoing police investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 2, as amended)
7. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have investigated Mr X’s complaint about issues with the chair of the allotment site from August 2023 to 5 March 2024.
9. I have not investigated any matters before August 2023 because the Ombudsman can not investigate matters more than 12 months back from when a person brings a complaint to us. There is no evidence of any issues being raised with the Council between 5 March 2023 and August 2023. Issues before 5 March 2023 are outside the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to investigate.
10. I have not investigated any new matters after 5 March 2024 because the Ombudsman can only investigate complaints up to the point a person brings a complaint to our attention. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman in March 2024 and we agreed to investigate this complaint on 5 March 2024.
11. I have referenced some key points shortly after 5 March 2024 in this decision as this provides context to the Council’s actions relevant to this complaint. However, I cannot investigate or address anything that has happened after 5 March 2024. This would be the subject of a new complaint.
12. If Mr X has already raised any new complaints with the Council and received a Stage 2 complaint response, he may bring this to the attention of the Ombudsman immediately under a separate complaint. Otherwise, Mr X needs to raise any concerns about issues after 5 March 2024 with the Council first.
13. It is also of note that some of what Mr X has complained about is the subject of a police investigation. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters under investigation by the police. We also cannot divulge information which is related to such investigations. I have investigated the actions of the Council in respect of its role for the purpose of this complaint but cannot comment on the wider investigation underway.

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How I considered this complaint

14. I have considered all the information Mr X provided and our organisation discussed this complaint with him. I have also asked the Council questions and requested information, and in turn have considered the Council’s response.
15. Mr X and the Council both had opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Rules, regulations and background information

16. Mr X is a tenant of an allotment site within the Council area. This allotment site is managed and maintained by Lampton Greenspace as part of the Council’s Parks and Open Spaces service. Ultimately, the Council is responsible for the actions of Lampton Greenspace in managing the site on its behalf.
17. The Council says where a breach of allotment rules is suspected, Lampton Greenspace Allotments Manager will investigate as deemed suitable by them. The Council says Lampton Greenspace has no set process for investigating issues raised with it about allotments.

Allotment Rules

18. Within the Council’s allotment rules it details that no tenant of allotments may alter the water supplies. Any tenant found to be making modifications to the existing supply will be served with a notice of non-compliance and may be served a termination notice.
19. The allotment rules detail that any incidents about personal safety should be reported to the police and the council or its managing agent.
20. The allotment rules detail that tenants must not cause any undue annoyance or disturbance to other tenants of the allotment. Antisocial behaviour towards other tenancy will not be tolerated and acts of anti-social behaviour may result in the termination of a tenancy.
21. Where there are disputes between tenants these should be referred to the Council or its managing agent.

Anti-social behaviour

22. Councils have a duty to act to combat anti-social behaviour. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives councils powers to address anti-social behaviour. These include civil injunctions and community protection notices.
23. Section 2 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 defines anti-social behaviour as:
• Conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person;
• Conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises, or
• Conduct capable of causing housing related nuisance or annoyance to any person.
24. The Council’s website advises people to report anti-social behaviour to the police to investigate.
25. The Council’s website also says you can report anti-social behaviour to it. The Council can then investigate and collect evidence, issue warning letters, seek civil injunctions, seek a criminal behaviour order, issue a community protection notice or work with the police.

Community Trigger

26. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 also provides a mechanism to review the handling of complaints about anti-social behaviour. This is known as the ‘Community Trigger’ process. When someone requests a review, relevant bodies (which include the council, police, and other agencies) should decide whether the local threshold has been met.
27. If the threshold has been met, the relevant bodies should undertake the review. They should share information, consider what action has already been taken, decide whether more should be done, and then inform the complainant of the outcome. If they decide to take further action, they should create an action plan. It is for relevant local bodies to agree their review threshold, but the anti-social behaviour statutory guidance says this should be, at a maximum, that a complainant has made three reports of anti-social behaviour within six months.
28. The Council’s website states victims can use the Community Trigger if they have complained about three separate incidents of anti-social behaviour in the last six months.
29. The Council’s Community Trigger procedure says that it will not engage the Community Trigger, even if it meets the threshold, if a complaint is being formally investigated through any agency’s complaints procedures. The Council says this is because the Community Trigger does not replace formal routes for making complaints.
30. Anti-social behaviour statutory guidance published in 2019 states the Community Trigger is an important safety net in ensuring that victim’s voices are heard, but it is important that victims can easily access information about how to apply for a formal review and in what circumstances they can do so.
31. The 2019 guidance says relevant bodies must publish the anti-social behaviour Community Trigger procedure to ensure victims are aware they can apply to activate the procedure. It says consideration should be given to where this information is published and how accessible the information is. It recommends making it clear that the procedure is about seeking a case review.
32. The government revised the anti-social behaviour statutory guidance in 2021. The updated guidance puts a clear emphasis on local authorities to ensure information about the Community Trigger is accessible and victims are aware of their right to use it.

Council’s corporate complaints policy

33. The Council’s corporate complaints policy says it will not consider every contact as a complaint but will assess each on its own merits. If the Council’s considers a matter is better addressed as a service request it will refer a person to the appropriate service. The Council says it will let a person know of its chosen course of action.
34. The Council’s policy says it will raise a complaint if a person is dissatisfied with the response to the service request even if the handling of the service request remains ongoing.
35. On receipt of a complaint, the Council says it will acknowledge this within five working days. The Council says it will provide a response at Stage 1 of its complaints process within ten working days from the date of its acknowledgement.
36. If a person is dissatisfied with the Stage 1 response they can seek consideration of their complaint at Stage 2. The Council will acknowledge a request for consideration at Stage 2 within five working days and provide a formal response within twenty working days of the acknowledgement.

What happened

37. On 4 August 2023, Mr X reported an incident on the allotment to the police. Mr X contacted Lampton Greenspace about the incident on 11 August 2023 and asked it to look into harassment and threats from the allotment chairman.
38. Mr X contacted the Council on 15 August 2023 to reiterate his concerns about the threats and harassment from the allotment chairman.
39. Lampton Greenspace confirmed with Mr X on 17 August 2023 his concerns were under review.
40. On 21 August 2023, Mr X raised a formal complaint with the Council about the actions of the allotment chairman. Mr X said he had been given a crime reference by the police and raised this matter with the Council two weeks ago but has not received any acknowledgement or contact from the Council.
41. The Council acknowledged Mr X’s complaint on 24 August 2023. The Council said it had asked the relevant service team to contact him and provide a response within 10 working days rather than through its corporate complaints policy.
42. Mr X provided information to the Council in August 2023 about further incidents at the allotment. The Council acknowledged the contact and apologised Mr X was still awaiting a response on 31 August 2023.
43. Mr X chased for a response on 7 September 2023. The Council formally acknowledged Mr X’s contact as a Stage 1 complaint on 12 September 2023. The Council said it would provide a response within 15 working days.
44. Mr X continued to keep the Council informed about incidents with the chairman occurring at the allotment site in September 2023 and the start of October 2023.
45. On 3 October 2023, the Council provided a Stage 1 complaint response to Mr X. The Council said:
• It apologised for the delay in responding to this matter.
• It had been working closely with Lampton Greenspace and the local police to complete a full investigation into Mr X’s concerns.
• While this investigation is reaching completion it cannot share the current position or any information with Mr X because of the sensitive nature of the complaint.
• It upheld Mr X’s complaint because of its failure to provide a response to his initial enquiry.
46. Mr X provided further information to the Council and Lampton Greenspace on 8 October 2023. Lampton Greenspace told Mr X it was continuing to work on this matter, it must follow the correct process and would provide an update as soon as it could.
47. On 19 October 2023, Mr X sought a Stage 2 complaint response from the Council. Mr X said it has been 12 weeks since he first raised his concerns and the allotment chairman is continuing to act in the same way with Lampton Greenspace taking no action.
48. On 25 October 2023, Tell MAMA contacted Lampton Greenspace and the Council on behalf of Mr X to raise concerns about the lack of action about the allotment chairman. Tell MAMA asked to be updated about what action Lampton Greenspace and the Council was taking to address Mr X’s concerns.
49. The Council sought legal advice on 31 October 2023 about the ongoing issues with the allotment chairman.
50. On 1 November 2023, the Council told Tell MAMA it would not be progressing the complaint to Stage 2 because of the ongoing nature of the work needed to resolve this matter.
51. Mr X raised a new formal complaint with the Council on 20 November 2023. Mr X said the water had been turned off at the allotment without notice. Mr X said he had livestock at the allotment who would now have no water. Mr X reiterated his concerns from his previous complaint about the inaction by the Council in response to the actions of the allotment chairman. Mr X asked for a deadlock letter given the Council’s refusal to progress to Stage 2 of the complaints process.
52. On 21 November 2023, the Council made an enquiry of Lampton Greenspace about the water at the allotment and asked for any updates on the harassment and threat matter from the relevant department.
53. On 22 November 2023, Lampton Greenspace said they were not aware of the water being turned off but would investigate. On the same date, it confirmed the allotment society had turned off the water without authorisation and it had instructed them to turn it back on. The relevant department at the Council advised it was still seeking legal advice on the harassment and threat matters but the advice was delayed and it could not progress without this.
54. The Council acknowledged Mr X’s request for a Stage 2 complaint response on 22 November 2023.
55. On 20 December 2023, the Council issued a Stage 2 complaint response. The Council said:
• It discussed Mr X’s concerns about the turning off the water supply with the allotments manager at Lampton Greenspace on 21 November 2023. The Council said the allotment society acknowledged the water supply had been turned off but had turned it back on by 22 November 2023.
• Lampton Greenspace told the allotment society it could not turn off the water supply without its agreement.
• It has asked for this to be monitored to prevent reoccurrence.
• It has sought legal advice for guidance on the issue about the allotment chairman and acknowledged this was an ongoing concern.
• It advised Mr X to report any ongoing concerns to the police so incidents are properly logged.
• Mr X could contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) with his complaint.
56. On 4 January 2024, Mr X contacted the Council about a further incident. The Council told him this matter had been through its complaints procedure and to approach the Ombudsman with his complaint.
57. From 8 February 2024, the Council’s legal consult liaised with the Council and Lampton Greenspace about the issues with the allotment chairman. The Council held various meetings and exchanged correspondence on this matter until April 2024.
58. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman on 5 March 2024.
59. In March 2024, Mr X contacted the Council about inaction from his previous complaints. Mr X told the Council the allotment chairman had lied to the Council about the water being turned back on. Mr X said the water was only turned back on for one day before being turned back off since November 2023.
60. In April 2024, the Council took action against the allotment chairman following legal advice. The Council told Mr X it had sought legal advice but could not disclose details of the action it has taken.

Analysis

Investigation into harassment and threats

61. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. We cannot question the merits of a council’s decision unless we find fault in the process it took to make that decision.
62. The Council’s policy for allotments says breaches of the rules, including anti-social behaviour, may result in the termination of a plot holder’s tenancy. However, the rules have no specific guidelines for the allotment chairman.
63. The Council has provided evidence of action it has taken against the allotment chairman following legal advice. The Council is not at fault for the action it decided to take in April 2024.
64. I have also seen the Council has worked with Lampton Greenspace and the police about the reports of anti-social behaviour. There is no fault in the way the Council decided this matter was better addressed through a police investigation.
65. However, the Council has not always been quick in considering Mr X’s concerns and has not always provided suitable information to him. The Council and Lampton Greenspace took from 11 August 2023 until 3 October 2023 to provide any meaningful information to Mr X to let him know it was working with the police on this matter. This meant that for nearly two months, Mr X was under the impression his reports of anti-social behaviour were going unaddressed.
66. The Council also delayed in seeking legal advice until 31 October 2023 and then failed to follow this up with the legal team resulting in no input until 8 February 2024. This means it took the Council six months to get legal advice before it could take any meaningful steps towards action. During this delay period, the Council only told Mr X it had sought legal advice on 20 December 2023. This was also the first time it told him to raise further ongoing incidents with the police. These delays were fault.
67. From 8 February 2024 to April 2024, the Council worked with its legal team and acted in a suitable manner. I do not find fault with its actions during this time.
68. Statutory guidance is clear that it expects bodies to ensure victims are aware of the Community Trigger procedure and the circumstances in which they can apply for a review. The 2021 statutory guidance emphasises this even further. Where a person has made frequent reports of anti-social behaviour, to the point where their case meets the local Community Trigger threshold, we consider councils should ensure they are aware of their right to request a review. I have considered the volume of anti-social behaviour complaints Mr X has made, which met the Council’s local threshold, along with his evident dissatisfaction with the Council’s actions.
69. While Mr X’s contacts met the Council’s threshold, it did not engage the Community Trigger process because of the ongoing complaint with its service. This is in line with the Council’s current Community Trigger procedure. Since the Council followed its procedure, I cannot find fault with the actions of the Council.
70. However, the Community Trigger process is not designed as an alternative complaint route to look at potential fault by the Council previously. It is designed as an opportunity for councils to review, alongside other relevant bodies, what has been done so far but with a view to what could be done to resolve an issue.
71. The Community Trigger should not be restricted in access due to ongoing complaints and a council is not exempt from telling a person about the Community Trigger simply because it has an open complaint. While I cannot find fault with the Council’s actions, I consider the Council should review its Community Trigger procedure to ensure this is aligned with the relevant legislation and guidance.

Investigation into water cut-off

72. When Mr X first raised his complaint with the Council about the allotment chairman turning off the water, the Council took suitable steps to address this matter. The Council contacted Lampton Greenspace who in turn contacted the allotment society. By 22 November 2023, Lampton Greenspace had ensured the water was turned back on at the allotment and told the Council. The Council acted effectively to address this matter and I cannot find fault.
73. However, Mr X has complained the allotment chairman turned the water back off the following day, 23 November 2023, and it remained this way until the complaint to the Ombudsman on 5 March 2024.
74. We asked the Council of evidence of any monitoring it completed of the site and of any checks completed after 22 November 2023 to ensure the water was not turned off at the allotment. The Council has advised Lampton Greenspace Allotments Maintenance Team maintained a presence at the site and completed visits to check the water was turned on. However, the Council has not been able to provide any evidence to support when Lampton Greenspace attended the site.
75. There is no evidence the Council, or Lampton Greenspace on its behalf, took any action to monitor the site as promised in the Stage 2 complaint response. Given the lack of evidence to support any action by the Council, this was fault.

Complaint handling

76. Mr X made his first contact with the Council to raise a formal complaint on 15 August 2023. The Council decided it would not consider this contact a complaint and instead decided to pass this to the relevant service as a service request. The Council’s complaint’s policy allows the Council to make this decision and I cannot find fault.
77. Mr X raised his complaint again with the Council on 7 September 2023. On this occasion, the Council decided to consider Mr X’s contact as a complaint. The Council acknowledged Mr X’s complaint within five working days in line with its policy.
78. When the Council acknowledged Mr X’s complaint it said it would respond within 15 working days. The Council’s policy says it will respond within 10 working days and there is no reference to a 15 working day response timescale. The Council subsequently responded on the day 15. This was fault as the Council has not adhered to its complaint timescale. However, this fault has not caused Mr X a personal injustice as the Council responded in the timescale it promised in the acknowledgement.
79. Mr X sought a Stage 2 complaint response on 19 October 2023. The Council told Mr X it would not be issuing a Stage 2 complaint response on 1 November 2023. The Council was entitled to advise Mr X it would not be issuing a Stage 2 complaint response but should have signposted Mr X to the Ombudsman at this time. The Council failed to acknowledge Mr X’s Stage 2 complaint within five working days and failed to signpost to the Ombudsman; this was fault.
80. When Mr X requested a Stage 2 complaint response for the second time on 20 November 2023, the Council acknowledged the request in five working days. The Council also provided a complaint response within 20 working days and signposted Mr X to the Ombudsman. The Council acted in line with its complaint process at this time and I do not find fault.

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Agreed action

81. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision the Council should:
• Provide an apology to Mr X and pay him £250 for the uncertainty and frustration it caused through the fault. Th Council’s fault included poor complaint handling, delays in providing suitable information to Mr X about its investigations into the allotment chairman and delays in obtaining legal advice.
• Signpost Mr X to the Community Trigger process once its threshold has been met.
• Review its Community Trigger procedure to ensure this is aligned with the relevant legislation and guidance.
82. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

83. There was fault by the Council as the Council has agreed to my recommendations, I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman