The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council area is poorly maintained. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that affect most of the residents in a Council area.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council is not maintaining a level of cleanliness in the city of Nottingham. Mr X complains road sweeping has been reduced, routes into the city are not litter picked or swept regularly, and there are not enough green bins. He says this is leaving litter, detritus, rotting matter, leaves, and weeds impacting the mental health of citizens and giving the city a bad reputation.
Mr X wants the Council to invest in regular cleaning and maintenance of the city, including weed control, a high standard of grass cutting, cleaning of leaves and more green bins.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the city of Nottingham is poorly maintained because it is about a matter that affects most of the residents in the Council’s area. This places the matter out of our jurisdiction as referenced in paragraph 3.
Mr X has spoken to the Council about the cleanliness of the city. The Council has provided a detailed explanation of its waste and street cleaning activities including litter picking and sweeping, weed control, leaf clearance and the number of and emptying schedule of bins.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a matter that affects most of the residents in the Council’s area.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman