Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about anti-social behaviour taking place near Ms Y’s home. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained on Ms Y’s behalf that anti-social behaviour is taking place at a nearby vacant property.
2. Ms X said this matter has caused Ms Y distress and upset.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organization.

(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 Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained to the Council regarding a vacant property in the Council’s area and the impact of anti-social behaviour taking place there on Ms Y. Specifically, she said an incident involving vandalism on Ms Y’s property was strongly suspected to be related to the vacant property and she wanted the Council to utilise its powers to address the issues.
7. The Council agreed to investigate and keep Ms X updated but failed to contact her within the required timeframe, so Ms X raised a further complaint. She said she was unhappy with the Council’s lack of action and failure to update her on what it was doing to fix the issue.
8. The Council confirmed it has issued letters to residents in the area requesting information regarding the anti-social behaviour taking place as well as physically visited the property in question. The Council explained it could not go into greater detail because the property is privately owned but confirmed it is engaging with the property owners to address the issue.
9. In response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries, the Council has provided a summary of actions taken to address this matter which include serving prohibitive notices and liaising with the police and its private sector and empty house team.
10. Ms X remains unhappy with the situation and wants the Council to provide more information regarding what it is going to do reduce the anti-social behaviour. Having reviewed the evidence, I can see this is a complex matter, made more so by the fact the property in question is privately owned. Given the historic nature of the issues, this is not a matter that is likely to be easily or quickly fixed however I am satisfied based on what I have seen that the Council is taking the matter seriously and is taking steps to address the matter within the constraints it is working within. It is therefore unlikely that an investigation would find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman