Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the way the Council has investigated his complaints about noise nuisance by his neighbours. Part of the complaint is late and further consideration of the complaints is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr B, complains the Council has failed to act to deal with noise nuisance by his neighbours. Mr B complains his neighbours carried out loud and disruptive home improvements in 2017 and the mother and child scream loudly. Mr B complains the Council has not properly investigated his complaints and has failed to make reasonable adjustments that would allow Mr B to gather more evidence of the noise.

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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 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)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mr B provided and the complaint correspondence between Mr B and the Council. I sent a draft decision to Mr B and invited comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

DIY noise in 2017

6. Mr B complains that in 2017 he suffered four to five weeks of drilling, banging and other DIY noises for up to 14 hours a day. Mr B complains the Council failed to take any action when he complained.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate how the Council responded to Mr B’s noise complaint. The complaint relates to matters that happened more than 12 months ago and is therefore late. The restriction in paragraph 3 applies.
8. There are no reasons for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and now investigate this late complaint. Mr B could have complained sooner, as he has raised other complaints with the Ombudsman during this time.
9. Further consideration of the complaint is also unlikely to find fault with the way the Council investigated Mr B’s complaints about this noise. The Council explained to Mr B in January 2018 that it could not take formal enforcement action for noise arising from residents making repairs and improvements to their own homes.
10. The Council had also invited Mr B to make a note of any increase in the noise and to come back to the Council to investigate. The Council’s complaint response says Mr B did not make any further complaints about noise from DIY works.

Ongoing noise complaints

11. Mr B complains he is also affected by a female neighbour and her children screaming. Mr B says the Council has refused to visit to hear the noise and has asked him to complete diary sheets. Mr B says he is physically unable to complete the sheets and says the Council has failed to make reasonable adjustments that would allow him to provide more evidence.
12. In response to Mr B’s complaint, the Council has told him that noise from children cannot be noise nuisance and it cannot take any action. While the matter is ongoing, the Council confirmed this in writing to Mr B in 2016 and 2017. The Council had suggested Mr B find an advocate to help him if he was unable to complete information, but Mr B says this is not a reasonable adjustment and he wants a council officer to record information for him.
13. While Mr B is unhappy with the way the Council has dealt with the ongoing noise matters, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council has explained to Mr B why it cannot take action to deal with the type of noise he complains about. The Council has referred to the relevant legislation (Environmental Protection Act) and explained why the matters he complains about are considered normal household noise. The Council cannot take enforcement action if there is no statutory nuisance. The Council has also provided advice to Mr B on how he could take his own prosecution against his neighbours if he wants to pursue this.
14. When Mr B asked the Council to make reasonable adjustments, it provided details of an advocacy service, has explained if Mr B cannot write diary sheets he could do a recorded log and ask for this to be transcribed and explained it cannot ask an officer to keep notes because they would have to be present with Mr B. While Mr B does not consider the Council has made reasonable adjustments, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council has considered and responded to Mr B’s request. Whether any suggested adjustments are ‘reasonable’ is a matter of law rather than administration and not something the Ombudsman can arbitrate on.

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Final decision

15. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because part of the complaint is late and further consideration of the complaints is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman