Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to take action in response to her concerns of anti-social behaviour from a neighbouring property which has caused her and her family significant distress. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to take action in response to her concerns of anti-social behaviour from a neighbouring property which has severely affected her health. She said the Council’s lack of action has caused her and her family significant distress. She wants the Council to apologise to her and take appropriate action to resolve the matter.

What I have and have not investigated

2. Mrs X has complained to the Council about the smell since 2019. My investigation covers the period between January 2021 and November 2022, when Mrs X brought her complaint to us. I have not investigated matters before January 2021 because it is a late complaint. Mrs X could have complained to the Ombudsman sooner and there were no good reasons why she did not complain sooner.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke with Mrs X and considered the information she provided.
7. I considered information the Council provided.
8. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Anti-social behaviour

9. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 defines anti-social behaviour as:
• conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person;
• conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises; or
• conduct capable of causing housing related nuisance or annoyance to any person.
10. Some examples of anti-social behaviour include:
• noisy, rowdy or inconsiderate neighbours; and
• street-level drug dealing or drug use.
11. Councils and other agencies such as the Police have some responsibility for investigating and preventing anti-social behaviour. In some cases, councils may work with other agencies such as the Police, where an immediate response is required. Joint-working and information sharing between the agencies is an effective response to anti-social behaviour.
12. There is no formal process chart for an anti-social behaviour investigation. Councils should handle each case according to its merits and considering the severity of the alleged behaviour, whether it is frequent or ongoing and the potential harm to the victims. However, we expect a good investigation considers:
• if it is genuinely anti-social behaviour;
• the risk it represents to the complainant and if there is significant threat or harm. In some cases, we would expect to see the council has completed a formal risk assessment;
• the alleged perpetrator and if they have other records of anti-social behaviour involving them; and
• information from other agencies involved such as what reports they have received and any action they have taken in response.

Community Protection Notices

13. Councils and the Police can issue Community Protection Notices (CPN) to prevent anti-social behaviour which is having a negative effect on the community's quality of life and which they decide is unreasonable. CPNs require the behaviour to stop and, where appropriate, require the recipient to take reasonable steps to ensure it is not repeated. Failure to comply is an offence and may result in a fine or a fixed penalty notice.
14. Councils must issue a Community Protection Warning letter in advance of the CPN. It is for the person issuing the written warning to decide how long is appropriate before serving a CPN.

Background

15. The following is a summary of the main events in relation to Mrs X’s complaint. It does not include all the information I have reviewed.
16. Mrs X lives in her privately owned home with her family. Her house is a semi-detached property. Since 2019, Mrs X and her family have been disturbed by various smells coming from the neighbouring property which is attached to her property. The attached property is occupied by a council tenant. The primary smell Mrs X complains of is drugs.

What happened

17. Between January 2021 and March 2021, Mrs X contacted the Council and other agencies on several occasions about the smell coming from the neighbouring property. During this period the Council:
• gave Mrs X diary sheets to complete and asked her to note down when the smell appeared;
• liaised with the Police and completed an anti-social behaviour risk assessment for victims, with Mrs X. The assessment noted the alleged smell was significantly affecting Mrs X daily but there was no evidence which indicated Mrs X was unsafe in her home. The Council offered to refer Mrs X to an organisation for victim support;
• liaised with its Housing Team. The Housing Team spoke with Mrs X’s neighbour about Mrs X’s complaint. The neighbour said they did not use any drugs; and
• spoke with the Police about the possibility of issuing a Community Protection Warning letter to the neighbour. The Police told Mrs X and the Council it could not issue a Community Protection Warning letter without corroborating evidence to support Mrs X’s claims such as another neighbour complaining about the smell. The Police asked Mrs X to contact it when the smell appeared.
18. In May 2021, Mrs X reported further concerns to the Council about the smell.
19. The Police visited Mrs X’s neighbouring property and told Mrs X and the Council it could not smell any drugs Mrs X complained of. The Police also spoke with another neighbour who said they had not smelled any drugs coming from Mrs X’s neighbouring property. The Council and the Police asked Mrs X to contact the Police when the smell of drugs appeared.
20. Between June 2021 and August 2021, Mrs X continued to make reports to the Council and other agencies about the smell. During this time:
• the Council provided Mrs X with its out of hours contact number so that the Council could respond to her reports in the evenings and visit her house;
• the Council’s Housing Team completed a joint visit with the Police to Mrs X’s neighbouring property. They told Mrs X there was no evidence of drugs being used; and
• the Council’s Environmental Health Team visited Mrs X’s property and told Mrs X it was unable to detect the smell she complained of.
21. In September 2021, the Council arranged mediation between Mrs X and her neighbour as the Council had also received reports from Mrs X’s neighbour about Mrs X’s behaviour. Both Mrs X and her neighbour attended. Mrs X said mediation did not improve the situation and she reported further concerns to the Council about the smell.
22. In November 2021, the Council’s Housing Team visited Mrs X’s property again as Mrs X reported she had smelled drugs continuously for almost two weeks. The Housing Team was unable to detect the smell.
23. The Council’s Housing Team later contacted Mrs X and said as it had no supporting evidence of the smell Mrs X complained of, it was unable to assist Mrs X further. It provided Mrs X with further diary sheets to complete.
24. In March 2022, Mrs X continued to report the smell to the Council. The Council’s Environmental Health Team spoke with Mrs X and offered to arrange a further visit to Mrs X’s property. The Council said Mrs X did not accept the offer of a further visit.
25. In May 2022, Mrs X complained to the Council and said despite the Council and other agencies acknowledging her concerns and visiting her house and the neighbouring property, there had been no change to the matter. Mrs X said the smell was severely affecting her health. She wanted the Council to evict the tenant from the neighbouring property.
26. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint. It said it had no evidence of the smell and so was unable to take further action.
27. Following Mrs X’s complaint, Mrs X continued to report the smell to the Council. In September 2022, the Police visited Mrs X’s neighbouring property and told Mrs X there was no evidence to support her claims. The Council’s Environmental Health Team also offered to visit Mrs X’s property again in October 2022.
28. Mrs X complained to us in November 2022. She said the smell was still present and the Council had taken no further action.

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Findings

29. Whilst investigating Mrs X’s reports of the smell, the Council took a multi-agency approach. It shared information with its Environmental Health Team, its Housing Team and the Police and considered what information they had. This is what we would expect the Council to do, to respond effectively to Mrs X’s concerns.
30. The Council supported Mrs X with obtaining supporting evidence. It provided Mrs X with diary sheets and visited her property and the neighbouring property when she complained about the smell. It also offered Mrs X support out of hours if she required the Council to visit outside of office hours. This was appropriate and what we would expect the Council to do.
31. The Council completed a risk assessment with Mrs X to identify if she was unsafe in her home and it referred Mrs X to a victim support organisation. This was appropriate and what we would expect the Council to do.
32. The Council also arranged mediation between Mrs X and her neighbour to discuss the smell and any other issues they had. Although Mrs X said it did not help the matter, I consider this was also appropriate action to take.
33. Mrs X wants the Council to take further action with her neighbour. However, the Council does not have enough evidence to support Mrs X’s claims, enabling it to take further action. It made Mrs X aware of this and made reasonable efforts to obtain supporting evidence. The Council was not at fault.

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Final decision

34. I have now completed my investigation. The Council was not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman