Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the dismantling of a crane causing noise one Sunday and how the Council replied to his communications about it. The Council has not caused Mr X an injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council did not deal properly with his report that a company carried out work on a Sunday, in the summer of 2020, to dismantle a tower crane which caused noise and loss of sleep. Mr X says the Council should have stopped the work and should pay him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mr X’s comments and the Council’s reply to his complaint.

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What I found

4. The Council says it passed a temporary prohibition of traffic order allowing the company to close the road during a two-week period to dismantle the tower crane. It says it was not aware of the work because the company failed to apply for special dispensation to work on Sunday. Mr X did not report the problem that weekend (Mr X complaint to the Ombudsman says he reported it later on 20 July).
5. The Council says it would have granted permission because dismantling a crane is slow work and does not usually cause excessive noise. The Council has written to the company and reminded it of the correct procedure to follow in such situations.

Analysis

6. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint for the following reasons:
7. The Ombudsman investigates fault causing injustice. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which was not aware of the work on the Sunday. There is insufficient injustice to Mr X because the work took place for one day.
8. It would not be a good use of limited public resources to investigate. I note the Council wrote to the company about what had happened.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the dismantling of a crane one Sunday and how the Council replied to his communications about it. The Council has not caused Mr X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman