The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s reports of anti-social behaviour by his neighbour at his previous address. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and because an investigation would serve little useful purpose now Mr X has moved.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains he was let down by the Council when it did not take seriously his reports of anti-social behaviour by a neighbour who lived near him at his previous address. He says he wants the Council and the police prosecuted for their lack of response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X reported noise and odour problems he was having with his neighbour to the Council in 2019/2020.
The Council responded to him in 2020 and told him of the action it had taken. It told him if he was unhappy with the outcome of its investigation into his complaint, he could take it to Stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure. The Council did not receive a request for a Stage 2 investigation.
Mr X moved property and in 2022 he contacted the Ombudsman to complain about the problems he had had at his previous address and the Council’s lack of response to them.
While I understand Mr X remains dissatisfied with past Council actions, it is too late now for an investigation. This is because it would have been open to Mr X to have taken his complaint to Stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure in 2020 and to have complained to us at the time if he had remained dissatisfied.
Moreover, as Mr X has moved and is now away from any problems he had at his old address, an investigation would serve little useful purpose. Mr X says he wants the Council’s Environmental Health Team to be prosecuted but this is not an outcome an investigation by the Ombudsman can achieve. The police do not fall within our jurisdiction so we cannot look at complaints about them.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is a late complaint and because an investigation would serve little useful purpose now Mr X has moved.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman