The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to properly respond to reports of anti-social behaviour Mrs X has been making for several years. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a finding of fault.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council has failed to properly respond to reports of anti-social behaviour she has made over the last several years.
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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained to the Council in May 2023 following a community trigger she called regarding anti-social behaviour taking place at her next-door neighbour’s home. She said the issue had been ongoing since 2021 and the Council had failed to take note of the noise recordings and diary sheets she had provided.
The Council did not uphold Mrs X’s complaint. The Council said it had issued warning letters, held street surgeries, and installed noise monitoring equipment in response to Mrs X and one other person’s complaints about this neighbour. The Council confirmed it had also issued a community protection notice and was liaising with local police to review the situation. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response and brought her complaint to us.
The evidence shows the Council has taken a variety of actions to address the concerns Miss X has raised including issuing a community protection notice and warning letters. The Council has recently arranged for further street surgeries to take place and confirmed in its latest complaint response that it will continue to do so. These were reasonable actions for the Council to take. An investigation into this matter would therefore be unlikely to result in finding fault with the Council’s actions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a finding of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman