Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with the complainant’s reports of noise caused by his neighbour. We do not consider that further investigation will lead to a different outcome. The complainant confirms most of the noise has now ceased and we cannot resolve the complaint in the way he is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X complains the Council failed to take action against his noisy neighbour.
2. He wants the Officer’s involved with his case sacked or removed from their posts.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complains the Council failed to take action against his noisy neighbour. He says it lost the diary sheets he sent in, and he had to go to the time and trouble of filling in new ones.
7. The Council told Mr X that it considers loud coughing, sneezing and door slamming as daily living noise which it will not take action against.
8. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision. As a result of his complaint the Council said it would look again at his reports of screaming and wall banging/scraping. However, it required him to complete more detailed diary sheets.
9. In response to my enquiries, Mr X says most of the noise from the neighbour has stopped and he now considers the remaining noise manageable. He refuses to complete further diary sheets.
10. The outcome Mr X wants is for the Council Officer’s involved in his case to be sacked or removed from their posts. The Ombudsman cannot involve himself in personnel issues, including disciplinary matters.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation will not lead to a different outcome. Most of the noise has now stopped and we cannot remove Council employees from their posts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman