Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about problems the complainant had with his neighbours from 1988 to 2014. This is because it is a late complaint and because some of the issues have already been considered by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about various problems he has had with his neighbours between 1988 and 2014.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and asked the Council for some background information. I read the decision the Ombudsman made in 2010 about some of these issues. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mr X complains of neighbour problems since 1988. For example, he complains of penetrating odours from 1988, noise from DIY, footballs, and doors in 1991, a broken window and damage to plants in 1993, rubbish in the alley in 1994, personal abuse in 2000, overgrown trees in 2006, abandoned bins in 2012 and dog barking in 2014.
6. The Ombudsman considered some of these issues in 2010.
7. The Council told Mr X in 2018 that it would respond if he sent letters about new issues but it would not respond about repeat and historic issues. It offered support from social services. Mr X did not feel he needed support.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X is complaining about incidents between 1988 and 2014. He is raising issues that occurred much longer than 12 months ago and I have not seen any good reason to investigate such late complaints, especially as some of the issues were considered by the Ombudsman in 2010. Mr X disagrees with the Ombudsman’s decision but it is too late to challenge it.
9. In response to a draft of this decision Mr X provided a diary of issues for the last year and half. For example, he recorded dog barking, banging bin lids and radios. Although these are current issues they generally represent ordinary living noise, often during the day, which does not show any fault by the Council or need for an investigation.
10. The Council has offered support to Mr X and told him it will consider new issues that he raises.

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Final decision

11. I have decided not to start an investigation because this is a late complaint and because we considered some of the issues in 2010.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman