The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate some of Ms X’s complaints about anti-social behaviour from a neighbour as they relate to the Council’s role as a social landlord and the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate other elements of Ms X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to achieve any worthwhile or additional outcome.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council failed to act on her reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) from a neighbour over a two-year period. Ms X also complained about the Council’s poor communication. Ms X said the matters caused her distress.
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 complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, 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 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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council is a social landlord We cannot investigate some of Ms X’s complaint about anti-social behaviour from her neighbour.
Ms X’s neighbour was a social tenant of the Council. The law says we cannot investigate the Council’s actions under its powers as a social landlord. Therefore, we cannot investigate matters such as the location of the neighbour’s bin, the quality of sound insulation, whether the neighbour breached their tenancy agreement, and other housing related matters.
The Council’s wider anti-social behaviour powers We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints about the Council’s use of its general anti-social behaviour powers.
Ms X said the Council failed to act on her reports of noise and intimidation from her neighbour.
In its complaint response the Council agreed to complete a further investigation into the matter. It offered Ms X the use of noise monitoring software to enable it to determine if the issues complained about met the threshold of a statutory nuisance. Ms X said this was too late as the neighbour moved.
While Ms X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response, an investigation into these matters is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome. This is because the neighbour has now moved, and the issues complained about are no longer on-going.
Delay in complaints handling Ms X also complained about delays in the Council’s complaint process. The Council acknowledged this, apologised, and offered Ms X a £100 symbolic payment. This is in line with our guidance on remedies and an investigation into this matter is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome.
Final decision
We cannot investigate some of Ms X’s complaint as it relates to the Council’s role as a social landlord. We will not investigate other elements of Ms X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to achieve any worthwhile or additional outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman