The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that Officers were rude to the complainant when she reported her neighbour was causing a noise nuisance. We could not add to the investigation already carried out by the Council.
The complaint
Miss X complains Council Officers were rude to her when she reported her neighbour cause causing a noise nuisance.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has responded to Miss X’s complaint. It interviewed the Officers who visited her following her complaint about noise. It confirmed both Officers recalled they treated Miss X with respect and politely advised the limit of the Council’s powers regarding noise issues.
As there are no recordings of the visits further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we could not add to the previous investigation completed by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman