Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her reports of anti-social behaviour. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has failed to act following her reports of anti-social behaviour from a neighbour. She says this has caused distress and affected her health. She wants the Council to be more empathetic and take appropriate action.

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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. 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

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

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My assessment

6. There is no fixed point at which something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. Officers may, for example, ask the complainant to complete diary sheets, fit noise-monitoring equipment, or make site visits. Officers will use their professional judgement to decide whether a statutory nuisance exists.

7. Ms X complained to the Council about anti-social behaviour from a neighbour in September 2024. The Council asked Ms X to complete diary sheets for three weeks. The Council then spoke to Ms X again and discussed returning the diary sheets by post. The Council did not receive the diary sheets, so it closed the case.
8. Ms X contacted the Council again in December 2024 and it reopened the case. Ms X submitted her diary sheets by email and the Council considered the evidence. It decided there was insufficient evidence of statutory nuisance and so it would not take any action.
9. In its complaint response, it apologised to Ms X if it was not initially clear that she could return the diary sheets by email.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately considered Ms X’s concerns and the evidence submitted but decided there is not enough evidence of a statutory nuisance to warrant further action. Although I accept Ms X disagrees with this outcome, there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision so we cannot question the outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman