Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s response to her reports of noise nuisance by a neighbour. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council has failed to take effective and timely action in connection with noise nuisance by a neighbour. She says it took too long to respond to her reports of breaches of a noise abatement notice and to her request for a community trigger review.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• 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

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I gave Ms X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what she said.

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My assessment

7. Over a number of years, Ms X has reported noise nuisance by a neighbour to the Council. In 2021 the Council issued an abatement notice to the neighbour for the likelihood of a statutory nuisance as circumstances meant the Council could not say whether the noise heard actually met the statutory nuisance noise levels. The Council also considered Ms X’s request for a community trigger and gathered preliminary information but having done so decided no further action was required.
8. In 2022 the Council received further reports of noise nuisance from Ms X and an officer carried out an investigation which involved the officer making numerous separate visits, speaking to neighbours who live closer to the neighbour than Ms X, the consideration of information recorded on a Noise App and liaison with the police in connection with Ms X’s claims of harassment by the neighbour. Having completed the investigation, the officer concluded there was no evidence of a noise nuisance.
9. While Ms X may disagree with the officer’s findings, it is not our role to act as a point of appeal. We cannot question decisions made by councils if they have followed the right steps and considered the relevant evidence and information. The Council has clearly spent time and effort investigating Ms X’s reports of noise nuisance but has found no evidence to confirm this exists. I have seen no evidence to suggest fault affected this decision.
10. In responding to my draft decision, Ms X says she has significant amounts of evidence to support her claim of noise nuisance and evidence about the impact noise from her neighbours has had on her. However, it is the role of the Council and not the Ombudsman to assess the evidence to decide if a noise nuisance exists. That it has made a decision Ms X does not agree with is not evidence of fault. The Council has investigated Ms X’s concerns, with the case officer having spent a considerable amount of time on it. However, using their professional judgement, the officer has decided there was no evidence of a statutory nuisance. This is a decision the officer was entitled to make, and we cannot review its merits.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman