Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Anti-social behaviour case review meeting. It is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision to pause and re-open the review process. And in any case, we cannot look at the actions it then took, to monitor the complaint. This is because the law does not allow us to investigate the actions the Council took, if it did so as a social housing provider.

The complaint

1. Miss X was unhappy the Council closed her complaint about Anti-social behaviour (ASB) prematurely. She said this left her and her family without a proper response and is now concerned about her safety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Miss X made a complaint about ASB. In late July 2025, the Council opened an ASB case review meeting, involving Police, health professionals and other Council officers, including resident services officers (RSO). It then closed the meeting and re-opened it in mid-September, when the circumstances changed.
8. According to the information I have seen, the Council said it would monitor the situation using it’s RSO’s along with additional support from the Police. The Council accepted it could have taken a more victim focused approach in the way it ensured Miss X could participate in the ASB case review process.
9. Because the main actions the Council has taken, in response to the ASB case review, are actions it has taken as a social housing provider, the law I have highlighted at paragraph three means the Ombudsman cannot look at that part of Miss X’s complaint. This means we cannot look at what the Council is doing in response to the ASB complaint.
10. Nor will we look at the Council’s decision to close and re-open the ASB case review process, or how it ran the meetings, because it is unlikely we would find any fault in how it managed the process and its responsibility to hold an ASB case review.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because of the part we could consider; it is not likely we would find fault and the other part about what the Council is doing, is not something we can look at.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman