The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a noise complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and some issues are late.
The complaint
Ms Y has made reports to the Council since 2020 about a repetitive noise from a neighbouring property that has caused her considerable distress.
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)) 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 Ms Y and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Following a noise complaint from Ms Y the Council completed visits in 2020 and 2021 and established that the noise reported by Ms Y did not constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
Ms Y contacted the Council again in June 2024 and it completed a review which included a further visit to Ms Y’s home where an officer witnessed the noise and took measurements. The Council concluded that there was no statutory nuisance and communicated this to Ms Y and provided her with advice about how to take action herself under section 82 of the EPA if she wished.
There is no fixed point at which something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. The law says that a potential nuisance must be judged on how it affects the average person. Councils cannot take action to stop something which is only a nuisance to the complainant because they have special circumstances, such as a medical condition which makes them unusually sensitive to noise or fumes.
I find no fault with how the Council investigated Ms Y’s concerns. We cannot question decisions taken by councils if they have followed the right steps and considered the relevant evidence and information.
I will not investigate how the Council dealt with these matters in 2020 and 2021. This is because this is about matters that happened too long ago and I see no good reason why Ms Y could not have complained sooner.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and because other matters are late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman