Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Anti-social behaviour. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and we cannot achieve what Miss X is looking for.

The complaint

1. Miss X said the Council had not taken effective action to address serious Anti-social behaviour (ASB), she had reported to it. Miss X said the ASB had occurred over several years and the Council’s failure to act had caused her emotional distress.

Back to top

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 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, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

6. Miss X said she had made several reports to the Council, about ASB caused by residents of a nearby property. Miss X was particularly dissatisfied because this had been an issue ongoing since 2022. She also said the Council had a duty of care to her and others, because it was a property the Council used to house persons who were either rough sleeping or otherwise homeless.
7. We will not investigate matters going back to more than 12 months from August 2025, when Miss X complained to us. This is because these are late complaints and there are no good reasons why they could not have been raised with us sooner.
8. In so far as the matters I have considered, which relate to a noise and ASB complaint, in June 2025, I have considered the Council’s response to that report. The Council responded by investigating the noise nuisance which resulted in it issuing a noise abatement notice against another person.
9. Furthermore, it also considered Miss X’s reports of ASB as an ASB case review and according to the case notes I have seen, it looked at how it could respond effectively to the reports she made, alongside other statutory agencies and took relevant actions.
10. Given its actions at paragraph eight and nine, we will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
11. Additionally, Miss X wants the Council to stop using this location to house its clients. This is not something we could direct the Council to do and so cannot achieve what she is looking for in any case.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and we cannot achieve what Miss X is looking for.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman