Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with his reports of a noise nuisance at a nearby school. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how the Council has dealt with his reports of noise at a nearby school and about how it dealt with his complaints about this matter.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better/differently, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there is insufficient evidence of fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
7. Mr X reported a noise nuisance at a nearby school. The Council has visited the site and spoken to the school. However, the Council concluded that the issue does not constitute a statutory nuisance and therefore it cannot take enforcement action.
8. Whilst Mr X may strongly disagree with the Council’s conclusions, this does not mean it has done anything wrong. There is insufficient evidence of fault with how the Council reached its conclusion and therefore I cannot question the merits of that decision. I will therefore not investigate Mr X’s complaint.
9. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman