Summary: We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his noise nuisance reports and request for reasonable adjustments. It is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome. We also cannot investigate his complaint about court-issued fines he received for breach of an abatement notice. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about court action.

The complaint

1. Mr Z complains about the Council’s handling of his noise nuisance reports and request for reasonable adjustments. He says this has caused him distress, loss of trust, and financial loss. He wants the Council to log his noise complaints, arrange a personal apology from its officer, pay compensation, and cancel fines he has received for noise nuisance.

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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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them.
6. Mr Z has a disability. He complains the Council refused him reasonable adjustments to its noise reporting process. He says this meant he could not complain about noise from a property near his home.
7. Mr Z also complains about a Council officer he spoke with about this matter. He says the officer was discriminatory, as he used his disability against him and laughed at his difficulties.
8. In its response, the Council said it understood Mr Z could not complete noise diary sheets but could use the phone. It recommended Mr Z call the phone numbers provided so its officers could visit to witness the noise. It said it could also log the frequency of his noise reports via phone or email.
9. The Council said it could not make any further adjustments for Mr Z to report noise nuisance. It explained that it could not, for example, assess noise over the phone or always monitor its inbox.
10. The Council said it had investigated Mr Z’s complaint about its officer but could not share the outcome due to confidentiality. It said it would remind its call handlers to be empathetic and understanding, especially to people requiring additional support.
11. The Council apologised that Mr Z felt he had been treated unfairly and said it had arranged refresher training for its staff on disability awareness and sensitivity to customer vulnerabilities.
12. We will not investigate this part of Mr Z’s complaint. The Council appears to have appropriately considered his request for reasonable adjustments and explained the reasons for its decisions. It also investigated his complaint about its officer, apologised, and explained what steps it has taken to improve its disability awareness and customer support. It is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome.
13. Mr Z also complains he has received court fines for breaching an abatement notice issued by the Council. He says this was because of retaliatory noise which he only resorted to because he could not report the noise to the Council. He wants it to cancel the fines.
14. We cannot investigate this part of Mr Z’s complaint. The fines were issued following his prosecution in the magistrates’ court. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his noise nuisance reports and request for reasonable adjustments because it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome. We also cannot investigate his complaint about fines he received following court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman