Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to noise nuisance. This is because parts of Ms X’s complaint are late. And of the parts that are not late, it is unlikely we would find fault, and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome for Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X said the Council did not do enough to address her complaint about noise nuisance from a neighbouring house. She said this caused her and her family disruption.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X complained to us in September 2024 about the Council’s response to her reports of noise nuisance. Part of her complaint goes back to April 2023, and I will not consider it now, because those matters are late and there are no good reasons why a complaint about the Council’s actions then, could not have been made sooner.
8. In October 2023, Ms X made another noise complaint, and the Council gave Ms X advice on how to record the noise and submit it to the Council. In December, after it reviewed the audio recordings, the Council decided the noise was not a statutory nuisance.
9. In February 2024, the Council agreed to install noise monitoring equipment, and it subsequently reviewed recordings Ms X supplied it. It reviewed these recordings and decided it could take no formal action on the evidence Ms X supplied.
10. In July 2024, Ms X complained about a lack of action in response to her noise complaint. The Council made contact and apologised it had delayed providing her with a response. It also made an offer to carry out a joint visit with the Police.
11. In a subsequent complaint response to Ms X, the Council said it had not been able to arrange a joint visit but offered to expedite this. In its reply to my initial enquiries, the Council said Ms X had subsequently submitted further audio recordings in February 2025, which it had reviewed and decided did not constitute a statutory nuisance. It also said an officer would get in touch with Ms X about her new reports.
12. Of the parts of Ms X’s complaint, that are not late, relating to the Council’s actions at paragraph eight and nine, we will not investigate, because it is unlikely we would find fault. The decision of whether a noise nuisance is a statutory noise nuisance is for the Council to take. In the absence of any flaw in how it decided, we would not criticise it.
13. The Council acknowledged it had not arranged the follow-on visit as highlighted in paragraph 10. It said it would now do so, and an officer would get back in touch with Ms X. These actions are an appropriate response to Ms X’s formal complaint and therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome for Ms X.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because parts of it are late, and there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council have also taken steps to resolve Ms X’s complaint and these are appropriate actions, therefore further investigation, would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman