Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide extra hedging or screening along the boundary between the road where the complainant lives and communal gardens of Council owned properties. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council refuses to provide extra screening between her home and Council owned flats opposite.
2. She says she has suffers from noise and anti-social behaviour from residents of the flats and people have climbed over the existing fence.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. There is an existing metal fence running along the boundary between the road where Mrs X lives and the communal gardens of Council owned flats. This has been in place for some years.
7. There is hedging along part of the fence but none along the fence opposite the front of Mrs X’s home.
8. Mrs X wants the Council to install hedging against the bare part of the fence. She says this will provide screening from Council tenants who she says can look at the front of her home, including the front door. She also says occupants of the flats have climbed over the fence.
9. The Council has confirmed it is working with its tenants to resolve the anti-social behaviour.
10. It also confirms it has no statutory duty to provide additional hedging or screening. The boundary is marked by the existing fence. It says if Mrs X wants screening on her side of the fence, it is for her Housing Association landlord to consider.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because I have seen no evidence to show the Council has a duty to provide additional hedging or screening to the existing fence. Also, the Council has confirmed it is dealing with the anti-social behaviour issues with its tenants. We cannot investigate issues relating to the Council’s actions as landlord as such matters are outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman