The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council decision to allocate the adjoining property to a resident with health issues. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complains about the Council’s decision to allocate the adjoining property to a person with health issues. She says his health issues cause him to shout day and night. She says the noise is causing her sleep deprivation.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complains it was unfair of the Council to allocate the adjoining property to someone with health needs that cause them to shout all the time. The Council said it had adhered to their allocations policy and asks all applicants to provide references. It said Miss X had not logged any incidents. It said it was already helping her with her application to move.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. We look at the process a council followed to make its decision. If the Council followed its process correctly, we cannot question that decision even if a complainant disagrees with the decision made. I see no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision to allocate the adjoining property. The decision was made in line with its allocation policy.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman