Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to investigate his reports of nuisance caused by the smell of drug use by his neighbour. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to investigate his reports of nuisance caused by the smell of drug use by his neighbour. He also complains the Council has failed to evict his neighbour for drug use.

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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 cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. 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))
5. 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

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

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My assessment

8. Mr X made complaints to the Council about his neighbour regarding the smell of drug use. He says the smell is causing him a nuisance. He also complained about anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance. Mr X’s neighbour is a council tenant.
9. We have no jurisdiction to consider the Council’s actions if it is taking that action under its responsibility as a social housing provider. This means we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not evicting his neighbour as this falls within the Council’s remit as a social housing provider.
10. We can however consider how the Council has investigated the concerns outside of its responsibilities as a social housing provider. Mr X has complained about a statutory nuisance and the Council has powers to investigate and deal with this.
11. Mr X said he has been reporting these issues for over three years. However, there are no good reasons for why Mr X did not complain to us earlier. Therefore, we will only consider how the Council dealt with his concerns within the last 12 months of when he first approached us, January 2024.
12. The Council has a duty to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate when a person living in their area complains about a potential statutory nuisance. In this case, Mr X has reported a nuisance caused by the smell of claimed drug by his neighbour.
13. The Council took the following action:
• It sent Mr X’s neighbour a letter advising a complaint had been made and the steps the Council may take to investigate.
• Spoke with Mr X’s neighbour.
• Visited Mr X’s neighbour to attempt to witness the smell of drug use. The case notes detailed the officers witnessed no smell of drugs and no evidence to support the claim the neighbour was growing drugs/using drugs.
• Asked Mr X to submit record sheets detailing the nuisance.
14. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault with the Council. This is because the Council has met its duty by taking reasonably practicable steps to investigate Mr X’s complaints. In this case, the Council is not satisfied there was sufficient evidence to support Mr X’s complaints and so decide no further action is necessary. As the Council has properly considered the matter, it is entitled to make its decision, and we cannot find fault with the decision itself.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman