Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response when Ms X reported noise from a party back in June 2023. This is because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s response to her report of noise from a party disturbing her at home in June 2023.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In June 2023 the Council received a complaint from Ms X about a party taking place at a property close to hers which was disturbing her. An officer contacted her and explained she could refer her case to the Neighbourhood Resolution Panel Scheme. The Council says Ms X did not contact the Scheme and that the complaint had a been a one-off complaint about the property involved.
6. The Council has advised that Ms X also made a complaint about other neighbours in August 2023 but the matter did not proceed because the tenants of the property moved out.
7. The Council’s investigations stopped when Ms X did not refer a one-off incident to the Panel Scheme and when tenants who had been the subject of a separate complaint moved out. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and in the case of Ms X’s reports of nuisance to the Council, there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman