Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has failed to properly investigate her complaints of noise nuisance or take appropriate or effective action to resolve the problem. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has attempted to gather evidence and witness the noise nuisance. There were however failings in its communication with Mrs X, for which the Council should apologise.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complained the Council has failed to properly investigate her complaints of noise nuisance or take appropriate or effective action to resolve the problem.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Environmental Health Law

5. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), councils have a duty to take reasonable steps to investigate a complaint of statutory nuisance.
6. For the issue to count as a statutory nuisance, it must:
• unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises; and / or
• injure health or be likely to injure health
7. There is no fixed point at which something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils will rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. The Council’s website states that when it receives a noise complaint it will:
• Contact the complainant for further information, if required;
• Ask the complainant to keep a diary detailing when, how often and how long the noise occurs;
• Make up to three visits to the complainant’s home to witness the noise or provide monitoring equipment to record the disturbance.
8. If the Council is satisfied the noise is a statutory nuisance it will serve a Noise Abatement Notice. If the Council does not consider a statutory nuisance exists it will not take any further action.

What happened here

9. Mrs X complains that her family has been disturbed every night for years by noise from her neighbours. She complains of aggressive, loud noises from throwing objects around, fighting and boxing, and of loud music, shouting and swearing. Mrs X says this has affected her wellbeing and work and her home is no longer the peaceful environment it should be.
10. Mrs X first contacted the Council regarding the noise in January 2021. She told the Council she had tried to discuss the noise with her neighbours but this had not helped. Mrs X believed other residents in the building had also complained about the noise and asked the Council to assist.
11. The Council sent Mrs X its guide to noise nuisance and asked her to complete diary sheets for at least two weeks so that the Council could decide what action to take. The Council advised Mrs X that if it did not receive completed diary sheets within four weeks it would assume the problem had been resolved and close the complaint. Mrs X did not return the completed diary sheets.
12. In late March 2021 Mrs X called the Council’s out of hours service as different neighbours in another flat were playing loud music and may have been having a party. There is no record the Council took any action in relation to this report at that time. It wrote to Mrs X in May 2021 again asking her to keep diary sheets for two weeks. As Mrs X did not return the completed diary sheets the Council closed the complaint in June 2021.
13. Mrs X made a further complaint about noise nuisance from her neighbours in early October 2021. She asked the Council to provide noise recording equipment. The Council’s records say an officer tried to call Mrs X and discuss her concerns. They left a message asking Mrs X to contact them. An officer then emailed Mrs X in December 2021 to check whether the issue was ongoing, and if so whether Mrs X had kept a record of the noise. There is no record of Mrs X responding to the officer.
14. In May 2022 Mrs X made a further complaint. Although she did not return completed diary sheets, the Council wrote to Mrs X’s neighbours advising it had received complaints about noise from their premises and it would now carry out an investigation. The Council then installed noise recording equipment in Mrs X’s home between 1 and 8 June 2022. Mrs X reported there had been no noise and she was unable to make any recordings. The Council closed the case.
15. Mrs X made a further complaint about noise nuisance in early January 2023. The Council sent Mrs X a further copy of its guide to noise nuisance and again asked her to complete diary sheet. Mrs X returned completed diary sheets and an officer, Officer 1 suggested installing noise recording equipment again between 10 and 17 February 2023. They noted Mrs X worked and confirmed they would arrange a suitable time for the installation.
16. As Mrs X did not respond, Officer 1 suggested alternative dates the following month for the installation of the recording equipment. Mrs X responded that she was unhappy with the way Officer 1 had dealt with her case. She said she would find someone who could help her sooner as she could not wait that long being woken up every night living in a noisy environment.
17. Officer 1 reiterated that the noise recordings would be necessary as evidence for any notice that may be served if the noise was deemed a statutory nuisance. They recommended installing the noise recording equipment to move the case forward, but confirmed if Mrs X wanted them to close her case, they would.
18. Mrs X responded that Officer 1 was becoming annoying and she would not take the day off work for the equipment to be installed. She questioned whether Officer 1 spoke English and confirmed she did not need their help.
19. The following week Mrs X then emailed the Council again reporting further noise disturbance. Officer 1 responded noting they had closed the case based on Mrs X’s previous email. As the situation was ongoing Officer 1 again suggested installing noise recording equipment as the Council was unable to take any potential action against the alleged property without this evidence. Officer 1 also confirmed the installation could be scheduled for when Mrs X had finished work so that she did not need to take any time off. Mrs X’s response asserted Officer 1’s email was harassment. The Council closed the case.
20. Mrs X made a formal complaint about the way the Council had dealt with her reports. The Council’s response confirmed that in order to take action for nuisance from a neighbour it as necessary to collect evidence to demonstrate a nuisance exists. Without sufficient evidence the Council could not serve an abatement notice.
21. It also set out the action it had taken to investigate Mrs X’s complaints of noise nuisance. The complaints in 2021 were all closed as Mrs X did not return diary sheets detailing the extent of the noise. Although Mrs X did not return diary sheets when she complained in May 2022 the Council had installed noise recording equipment. Mrs X did not make any recordings and the case was closed. It had offered to install the equipment again in February 2023.
22. The Council acknowledged there had been a breakdown in communication between Mrs X and Officer 1 and that she no longer wanted Officer 1 to handle her complaint. The Council arranged for another officer to take over the case so that noise recording equipment could be installed.
23. Mrs X was not satisfied and asked for her complaint to be considered at stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and reiterated the Council could not take any action against Mrs X’s neighbours unless there was evidence to demonstrate a statutory nuisance existed. It noted Mrs X’s complaint had been allocated to another officer but Mrs X still declined to have noise recording equipment installed in her property. The Council explained that in order to progress Mrs X’s complaint it was vital that she engage in the process and work with the new officer.
24. Mrs X remains dissatisfied and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint. She disputes that she had refused to have noise monitoring equipment installed, but rather had said she could not take a day’s unpaid leave. Mrs X also disputed that she had refused to have Officer 1 on her case. Mrs X is disappointed the Council has not supported her in this extremely stressful situation.
25. Since complaining to us the Council has reopened Mrs X’s case. Mrs X had agreed to have the recording equipment installed in her home over the Easter period but then asked for this to be deferred. The Council spoke with Mrs X’s neighbour in May 2023 who disputed banging on the walls. Mrs X’s neighbour said they could also hear noise from Mrs X’s property. The Council believes this could be due to poor insulation between the properties.
26. Mrs X contacted the Council again in early June 2023 to report further noise nuisance and to request the noise recording equipment. The Council arranged for the equipment to be installed in Mrs X’s home at the end of June 2023.
27. In response to my enquiries the Council has acknowledged there was a delay in acknowledging Mrs X’s call to the out of hours system in March 2021. It also acknowledges it closed Mrs X’s case in August 2021 without discussing it with her or offering to reinstall the recording equipment. It apologises for these oversights.
28. However it state Mrs X has not fully engaged with the process, which has prevented the Council from properly investigating her complaints of noise nuisance. It says Mrs X has not returned completed diary sheets, has refused to correspond with certain officers, and has refused to have noise recording equipment installed, even when the Council offered to do this outside office hours.
29. The Council says it has been unable to take appropriate or effective action to resolve the problem as it has been unable to substantiate it. The Council has also confirmed they have not received any other complaints regarding noise nuisance from Mrs X’s neighbour.

Analysis

30. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to decide whether the noise Mrs X complains of is a statutory nuisance; that is the Council’s job. We can only consider whether there was fault in the way the Council dealt with this matter.
31. Mrs X has been reporting issue of noise nuisance from her neighbours for several years and I recognise this disturbance has had an impact on her enjoyment of her home and her wellbeing. However the Council is unable to take any action without evidence to demonstrate the noise is a statutory nuisance.
32. The Council has repeatedly asked Mrs X to complete diary sheets detailing the extent of the noise, that is when, how often and how long the noise occurs. But Mrs X did not provide the Council with completed diary sheets until January 2023. Having considered the diary sheets the Council offered to install noise recording equipment, at a time convenient to Mrs X. This is an appropriate response and is in line with its procedure for investigating noise nuisance.
33. Mrs X did not accept Officer 1’s offers to install recording equipment in February and March 2023. And having initially agreed to have the equipment in April 2023 then decided to defer its installation.
34. The Council has clearly explained it processes and what is required before it can take any action. It is reliant on Mrs X engaging with this process. Based on the documentation available there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has attempted to collect evidence and witness the noise nuisance.
35. The Council does however acknowledge it did not respond in a timely manner when Mrs X reported loud music from a party in March 2022. It also acknowledges it closed Mrs X’s complaint in August 2022 without notifying her. It should apologise for these oversights.

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Agreed action

36. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X for the failings in its communication with her. In doing so the Council should have regard to our guidance on making an effective apology .
37. The Council should take this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

38. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has attempted to gather evidence and witness the noise nuisance. There were however failings in its communication with Mrs X, for which the Council should apologise.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman