The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action against noise nuisance from business premises close to Mr X’s home. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has ignored evidence of a statutory noise nuisance from business premises close to his home and particularly a noise report he commissioned which concluded there is a statutory noise nuisance.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. 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) We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X has been complaining to the Council about noise nuisance from business premises close to his home for a number of years. Last year we considered a complaint from Mr X about this matter but found no evidence of fault by the Council in its handling of the case.
Subsequently Mr X instructed an acoustic consultant to report on the noise levels he has been experiencing from the site and the consultant concluded the noise amounts to a statutory nuisance.
The Council has confirmed it has considered the report but does not agree with the acoustic consultant’s conclusion which he/she is not actually qualified to make. It is for the Council to decide whether a statutory nuisance exists taking into account a number of different factors of which noise levels are one.
Mr X says the Council is ignoring his communications and information he sends in but the Council has confirmed that while it will assess communication from Mr X, it has told him he will not necessarily receive a reply to each and every communication. The Council has already set out its position to Mr X and told him that it is monitoring what is happening at the premises and it is not obliged to respond to all he sends in.
While Mr X may be disappointed with the Council’s response to his ongoing concerns, and the report he commissioned, there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council which warrants investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman