The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with noise from a neighbour. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the complaint is made late.
The complaint
Mr X complains about that the Council has failed to properly deal with his reports of noise from a neighbour.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. 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)) 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 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)
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 made a number of reports to the Council about a specific noise coming from a neighbour’s land over a period of around six years.
I will not investigate how the Council has dealt with the matter going back six years. This is because there is no reason why Mr X could not have brought this to the Ombudsman’s attention sooner.
I will not investigate how the Council has dealt with the issue in the last 12 months. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council has carried out a number of site visits, witnessed the noise and concluded that it did not constitute a statutory nuisance and is unlikely to in the future if the source of the noise does not move. This was a professional judgement that the Council was entitled to reach and I am unable to question the merits of that judgment in the absence of fault.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is made late and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman