The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council proposes to gather evidence in Mr X’s complaint about suffering noise nuisance. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s request to place noise recording equipment in his property. Mr X says this is unfair and an invasion of his privacy.
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 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 the complainant which includes the Council’s response. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Councils rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. Officers may ask the complainant to use noise-monitoring equipment.
In Mr X’s complaint, the Council asks to place noise recording equipment in his property. Mr X says this is unfair and an invasion of his privacy.
The Council said to Mr X that any statutory nuisance investigation must consider the impact of the noise from within Mr X’s property.
We will not investigate. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 defines a statutory nuisance as one which ‘unreasonably and substantially interferes with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises’. So, we are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s proposed method of gathering evidence from Mr X’s home.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman