Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with a complaint about damage to a chimney. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. And The Council it is not responsible for damage to the complainant’s property caused by a neighbour. The parts of this complaint about anti-social behaviour are made too late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, is represented by Ms Y.
2. Ms Y complains the Council had failed to properly inspect work carried out to the chimney which is causing damage to Mr X’s home.
3. She also says the Council failed to act on Mr X’s multiple reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) made by his neighbour.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)
6. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the Mr X, Ms Y, and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Damage to the chimney

9. The Council is the freeholder of two flats. Mr X owns the ground floor flat. The complaints concern the actions of the previous owner of the upstairs flat.
10. Ms Y says the Council failed to act on the former neighbour carrying out inadequate work to the shared chimney without permission of the Council as freeholder; and the former neighbour breaching the terms of the lease
11. The Council reminded the former neighbour of the terms of the lease and that no further work to the chimney may be carried out without the Council’s permission.
12. The Council also confirmed it has inspected the chimney in its role as freeholder and is satisfied.
13. Mr X is not satisfied with the work. He says the neighbour damaged the internal workings of the chimney causing water to leak into his kitchen. However, the Council is not responsible for any damage caused to Mr X’s home by the neighbour. This is a private civil matter between Mr X and his former neighbour.

Reports of anti-social behaviour

14. Ms Y also complains the Council failed to act on repeated reports of ASB against Mr X by the neighbour and associates.
15. The Council confirms it opened an ASB case in 2019. The allegations from Mr X were historical. It says the Case Officer liaised with the Housing Manager on the lease issues. The Council also told Mr X to seek independent advice on his concerns about his neighbour’s security camera. The file was closed in 2020 as it had not received any further reports of ASB.
16. In response to Ms Y’s complaints, the Council says it has reviewed its records and the social media information provided by Mr X. It confirms it is satisfied there is no personal relationship between Council officers, its contractors, and the neighbour.
17. The law says a complaint must be made to the Ombudsman within 12 months of the complainant becoming aware of the concern. The ASB events Ms Y complains of were reported to the Council in 2019. This part of the complaint is therefore late.
18. I have considered whether we should investigate this late complaint. However, I have seen no reason Mr X could not have complained to us earlier. And the neighbour has now moved out, therefore an investigation into the ASB part of this complaint would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

19. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with his complaint about the chimney
• the Council is not responsible for any damage caused to Mr X’s property by the neighbour
• the complaint about ASB is too late and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman