Summary: There was no fault by the Council, in this complaint about anti-social behaviour. This is because the complainant had not made a substantive report about anti-social behaviour before submitting a formal complaint.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainant as Mrs N.
2. Mrs N complains about anti-social behaviour by a person with mental health needs who lives near her. She says she is concerned about the safety of her children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and s34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mrs N and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. I also shared a draft copy of this decision with each party for their comments.

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What I found

6. In July 2025, Mrs N submitted a stage 1 complaint to the Council. She said it had accommodated a person with mental health needs at a property near her home, and they were engaging in anti-social behaviour which she felt was a threat to the safety of her children. Mrs N said the Council should move the person to alternative accommodation.
7. The Council replied to say it would not accept a complaint from Mrs N, but had instead passed her concerns to “an appropriate service”.
8. Mrs N then referred her complaint to us.

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Analysis

9. When someone reports anti-social behaviour to a council, the council should assess the report and consider whether it is appropriate to use any of its various powers to tackle the anti-social behaviour. If a person is dissatisfied with the council’s response, they may then make a complaint about it, and potentially bring it to the Ombudsman if they wish to continue pursuing it.
10. In this case, however, Mrs N had not made a prior report of anti-social behaviour to the Council before making a stage 1 complaint. The Council therefore rejected her complaint, as there was nothing for a complaint investigation to consider at that point.
11. I will add there is additional relevant information the Council has shared with us, but which I am unable to disclose for reasons of data protection. Taking these points together though, I am satisfied there was no fault by the Council here.
12. It is unclear whether there have been any further developments since Mrs N submitted her complaint, but these would post-date her complaint and are therefore not something we can investigate. If Mrs N wishes the Council to intervene in the anti-social behaviour matter, she will need to make a substantive report about it first, before using the complaints process.

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Decision

13. I find no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman