Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her noise report. This is because the Council has accepted some fault, apologised to Ms X, and spoken with the officer concerned to prevent recurrence. We are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has not dealt with her noise report correctly. She complains of noise from building works at her flat, outside permitted hours. She says the Council failed to record its findings following a site visit and failed to tell her its decision. Ms X has not said what she is seeking as a remedy but says the Council’s apology is not enough.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by Ms X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Ms X complained to the Council about noise from building works at her flat at unreasonable hours.
9. The Council visited the site and said it did not find any evidence of noise outside permitted hours. It spoke with management at the site to advise that a complaint had been received and remind the developers of restrictions on noisy work.
10. The Council failed to record its decision and did not update Ms X of the outcome of its visit.
11. When Ms X complained, the Council accepted it should have given her feedback from its visit, apologised, and assured her that the officer involved had been reminded to keep accurate records and to provide updates. The Council told Ms X it had not witnessed any breach by the construction workers and it was not taking any action.
12. Although the Council failed in its communication with Ms X, there is no evidence to suggest the outcome regarding the noise would be any different. The Council made its decision there was no breach based on a site visit.We are satisfied the Council’s actions are enough to acknowledge the impact on Ms X and prevent future problems in service.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s investigation and would not achieve any different outcome. We are satisfied with the actions the Council has already taken.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman