Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council taking insufficient enforcement action against her neighbour’s anti-social behaviour. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council have failed to take appropriate enforcement action against her neighbour’s anti-social behaviour.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
3. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X has made multiple reports of anti-social behaviour to the Council. The anti-social behaviour is from her neighbour and includes accumulations of waste in the garden, smells from the property, and inappropriate language.
7. Mrs X complains the Council have failed to take adequate steps to prevent the anti-social behaviour.
8. The Council have investigated Mrs X’s reports and issued a Community Protection Notice Warning (CPNW) addressing the accumulations of waste in the garden, smells from the property, and inappropriate language.
9. The Council have completed weekly monitoring of the neighbour’s garden and are satisfied there are no further accumulations of waste and or unacceptable smells. They also did not receive further reports of inappropriate language following the CPNW. The Council have therefore not taken further enforcement action and are instead continuing to monitor the situation.
10. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation has followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, even if someone disagrees with it.
11. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s processes here to warrant an investigation. The Council investigated Mrs X’s reports, took enforcement action, and have monitored to ensure compliance. Whilst Mrs X feels the process has taken too long, there is no evidence of undue delay with the Council conducting its investigation.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman