Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with reports of antisocial behaviour. Part of the complaint is late, and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with a recent report.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council has dealt with his reports of antisocial behaviour from one of his neighbours. Mr X says the Council has failed to provide him with support with the issues raised for several years. Mr X also complained about how the Council dealt with his complaints about these matters.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council about antisocial behaviour by his neighbour in 2021. The Council responded to his complaint and advised him that he could complaint to the Ombudsman if dissatisfied with its response.
7. Mr X contacted the Council again in April 2023, and reported a further incident of antisocial behaviour by the same neighbour.
8. I will not investigate how the Council has dealt with Mr X’s historic reports of antisocial behaviour. This is because this complaint is made late. I see no good reason why Mr X could not have asked the Ombudsman to consider these matters when the Council issued its final response in 2021.
9. I will not investigate how the Council has dealt with Mr X’s recent report of antisocial behaviour. The Council contacted the police, Mr X’s housing association and made enquiries with neighbours to see if others faced similar issues with antisocial behaviour. The Council wrote to Mr X to say that because he had asked the Council not to approach his neighbour about the issue and because it had not received any responses from his neighbours it was closing the case as it could not take any action or intervention. Having considered the Council’s actions I do not consider that there is any evidence of fault.
10. There is also insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council tried to support Mr X. It offered Mr X Victim Support which he declined and it contacted Mr X’s housing association about potential alterations Mr X requested be made to his property and to enquire about his request to be moved.
11. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about how the Council communicated with him because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council about these matters. In response to Mr X claim that a Council officer tried to bully him over the telephone, the Council spoke to the officer who denied the claims. We were not privy to this discussion so could not reach a robust conclusion about what was said during the call. The Council did accept that a call from Mr X wasn’t returned and apologised to Mr X. This is a proportionate and appropriate response that we could not add to further.
12. Finally, I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how his complaint was dealt with. It is not a good use of public funds to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not considering the substantive issues.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of it is late and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with recent matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman