Summary: We will not investigate part of Mr X’s complaint about antisocial behaviour because there is insufficient evidence of fault. We will not investigate matters that took place before September 2024 because the complaint is late. We will not investigate a delay in the Council’s complaint handling because the Council apologised and an investigation is unlikely to achieve anything further.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council:
1. failed to act on his reports of antisocial behaviour from his neighbour between 2020 and 2025; and
2. delayed responding to his complaints.
2. Mr X said the matter caused him distress and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Matters before September 2024 & delay in complaint handling

8. Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint at stage two of its process in late July 2025. The Council’s response was due by early September 2025. The Council did not respond until mid-December 2025. In its complaint response, the Council apologised for the delay. An investigation into the delay by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome, and so we will not investigate that matter.
9. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman in late November 2025. Mr X was aware of some of the issues complained about more than 12 months before this date. Matters that took place before November 2025 are late.
10. The law says we cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons. For the period between September 2025 and November 2025, the reason for the delay in bringing the complaint was due to the Council’s delay. I will therefore consider matters 12 months before the Council’s stage two complaint was due.
11. However, we will not investigate matters before September 2024 because Mr X could have complained about the matters sooner, and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the earlier period now.

Matters after September 2024

12. Mr X’s complaint of antisocial behaviour relates to persistent noise nuisance he says is being caused by his neighbour through a party wall.
13. In response to Mr X’s reports the Council considered Mr X’s evidence, listened to noise recordings, spoke with the neighbour and visited the neighbour’s property to identify the source of the noise. The Council determined there was no nuisance taking place.
14. The Ombudsman is 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 followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
15. The Council followed the process the Ombudsman would expect in this case. Consequently, we will not investigate because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate part of Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault. We will not investigate another part because it is late. We will not investigate the remainder because an investigation is unlikely to achieve anything further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman