Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to investigate a neighbour’s unlined chimney and the smoke pollution and risk this caused. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly investigate or address her neighbour’s unlined chimney, occasions where he has set the chimney on fire and the resulting smoke pollution coming from her neighbour’s home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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
4. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X has been complaining about the smoke coming from her neighbour’s home and her belief that his chimney is not lined properly since 2019. She says her neighbour’s chimney and fireplace are dangerous and he has set the chimney on fire, placing her and her home at risk. Mrs X complained the Council has not done enough to address this or the resulting smoke pollution this caused. She also says a Council officer confirmed her belief that her neighbour’s chimney was not lined properly.
8. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaint in December 2023 and did not uphold her complaint. The Council’s records showed it visited the neighbour in question on several occasions over the years and after initially finding that he was burning the incorrect fuel, this was addressed on subsequent visits and the neighbour was now complying with smoke control legislation. The Council also confirmed it had offered to install monitoring equipment to ensure that Mrs X’s carbon monoxide levels were not being affected by the smoke and it had sent several letters to the neighbour to ensure that they were aware of the issue and taking action to address it. The Council said it did not have any information to show whether the chimney was improperly lined and it did not hold record of having informed her this. The Council invited Mrs X to provide further evidence after she requested a review of the Council’s decision. Mrs X did not provide any.
9. Mrs X has brought her complaint to the Ombudsman because she remains unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaint. The evidence shows the Council has been very proactive in how it has dealt with this matter, and it has acted in line with what we would expect. The Council has investigated and found no evidence the chimney is unlined. The Council has also confirmed the neighbour is complying with the correct legislation. It is therefore unlikely that an investigation would find fault with the Council’s actions.
10. The parts of the complaint that relate to smoke pollution have been ongoing for over 12 months. The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate complaints about events that took place with the complainant’s knowledge more than 12 months before they brought the complaint to us. In this case, there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this matter further.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman