Westminster City Council (24 010 924)
Category : Environment and regulation > Noise
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Nov 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s reports of noise nuisance and traffic issues in his locale. This is because the complaint is a late complaint due to the passage of time and so falls outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to address the nighttime street noise from which he and his family suffer and its failure to respond to his June 2024 communication which followed its June 2023 conclusion of his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council in early 2023 to which the Council provided its final response in June 2023 and notified Mr X of his right to bring his complaint to the Ombudsman. Mr X contacted us in September 2024.
- The time restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint because we would reasonably have expected him to have complained to us sooner. While it is noted that Mr X has more recently contacted the Council about these same matters, the time restriction still applies.
- If there are new issues/circumstances which exist which Mr X wants to make the subject of a new complaint, it is open to him to raise this with the Council in the first instance. If he is dissatisfied with its response, it is open to him to complain again to the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is a late complaint due to the passage of time and so falls outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman