Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to Mr X’s concerns of a bedbug infestation at a neighbouring property. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not investigate his concerns about a bedbug infestation at a neighbouring property properly. He said it relied on information provided by the letting agent’s contractor instead of completing an independent inspection.
2. He also said the Council has not provided information about how he can object to a renewal of a licence for a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO). He said the Council’s actions were disrespectful.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X contacted the Council in September 2021 as he was concerned a neighbouring property had an infestation of bedbugs and that this was affecting his own property. He complained to the Council about how it responded to these concerns in July 2022.
7. The Council’s complaint response confirms it contacted the letting agent, which arranged for its pest control team to complete a site visit. The pest control team did not find evidence of an infestation but completed treatment as a precautionary measure. The letting agent provided Mr X a copy of the pest control report. Although Mr X is unhappy with how the Council responded to his concerns, we will not investigate this complaint further. We would not be critical of the Council asking the letting agent to address the problem or relying on information provided by its pest control contractor. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
8. In its complaint response, the Council apologised to Mr X for not communicating with him better about his bedbug infestation concerns. As the Council has apologised, we will not investigate this further as there is no outstanding injustice and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
9. In Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman, he also raised concerns about information the Council provided about the licensing of HMOs. This was not part of Mr X’s initial complaint to the Council. Mr X would need to exhaust the Council’s complaint procedures before we could consider this complaint further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman