Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not properly respond to his reports of the nuisance caused by a loud car. We find the Council at fault for the way it decided it had no powers which caused injustice in the form of uncertainty. The Council agreed to apologise.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to take action about his complaints of a loud car despite the noise being anti-social behaviour. He says the noise caused significant stress. He would like the Council to take action to resolve the noise.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future 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. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and policies

Councils’ general duties regarding anti-social behaviour

6. Councils have a general duty to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB). But ASB can take many different forms and when someone reports a problem, councils should decide which of their powers is most suitable.
7. For example, they may approach a complaint:

• as an environmental health issue, where the complaint is about noise or pollution that might constitute a statutory nuisance; and/or
• using their powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

8. The 2014 Act introduced six powers for agencies involved in tackling ASB. These are:

• the power to issue a community protection notice (CPN);
• the power to make a public spaces protection order (PSPO);
• the power to close premises for a set length of time;
• a civil injunction (a court order, which a council, or other agencies, can apply for);
• a criminal behaviour order (a court order made following a conviction); and
• the power for the police to disperse people from a specified area.

9. We can only consider councils’ actions in an ASB investigation. We cannot investigate or make findings about any contribution made by other relevant bodies, such as the police.

Statutory nuisances under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

10. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), councils have a duty to take reasonable steps to investigate potential ‘statutory nuisances’.
11. Activities a council might decide are a statutory nuisance include noise from premises or vehicles, equipment or machinery in the street.
12. 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 property; and/or
• injure health or be likely to injure health.

13. There is no fixed point at which something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils rely on suitably qualified officers to gather evidence. Officers may, for example, ask the complainant to complete diary sheets, fit noise-monitoring equipment, or make site visits. Councils will sometimes offer an ‘out-of-hours’ service for people to contact, if a nuisance occurs outside normal working time.
14. Once evidence gathering is complete, a council will assess the evidence. It will consider matters such as the timing, duration, and intensity of the alleged nuisance. Officers will use their professional judgement to decide whether a statutory nuisance exists. If a council is satisfied a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, it must serve an abatement notice.
15. Councils can also decide to take informal action if the issue complained about is causing a nuisance, but is not a statutory nuisance. They may write to the person causing the nuisance or suggest mediation.

The Council’s ASB policy

16. The Council’s Antisocial Behaviour Policy says ASB covers a wide range of unacceptable activity that causes harm to an individual, to their community or to their environment and may include persistent, unnecessary or excessive noise (paragraph 3.1)
17. It lists the things that it does not treat as ASB. Loud cars are not listed in this section (paragraph 3.2)
18. It lists potential preventative measures including good neighbour agreements, warnings and acceptable behaviour contracts. It states If early intervention and preventative measures are not successful in resolving issues, then proportionate enforcement actions will be considered in line with the Corporate Enforcement Policy (paragraphs 8.6 and 8.7)

What happened

19. Mr X complained about the noise and reckless driving of a neighbour’s car in October 2023. He said the car’s exhaust was extremely loud. He said the noise was a nuisance when the car was left running whilst parked for up to 30 minutes at the beginning and end of every journey. He also said it was causing a noise nuisance when driving on local roads.
20. The Council replied it had no powers to deal with vehicles in the street with modified exhausts. It then said it was the type of complaint that the police were better placed to deal with. It referred the matter to the police who asked the owner to take action to make the car quieter.
21. In August 2024 Mr X contacted the Council about the same issue. The Council repeated it had no powers to take action and Mr X made a formal complaint about how the Council had handled his reports.
22. The Council responded to Mr X’s formal complaint. It noted the police had taken recent steps in relation to his reports. It repeated it did not have powers to deal with noise from motor vehicles in the street. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint. Mr X then complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

23. When Mr X first reported the noise, the Council clearly decided its statutory nuisance powers were the appropriate powers to consider. I have not seen evidence it considered any of its other ASB powers. However, in this case, given the nature of the complaint and role of the police, I have seen no evidence any of its other ASB powers were relevant. Therefore I find no fault in the way the Council decided which of its powers to consider.
24. The law says noise caused by traffic cannot be a statutory nuisance. Therefore I agree the Council had no clear power to deal with the noise of the car when it was driving on local roads. I do not find the Council at fault for referring this element to the police. I also note the Council maintained good communication with the police.
25. However, the law says noise coming from a premises or vehicle on the street are potentially statutory nuisances. In October 2023 Mr X told the Council the noise included times when the vehicle was parked. This had the potential to be a statutory nuisance under that part of the law. For this reason, I find the Council was wrong when it told Mr X it definitely had no powers to deal with that element of the complaint in October 2023 and August 2024. This was fault which caused Mr X injustice in the form of uncertainty.
26. To remedy the injustice I recommend the Council apologise to Mr X.
27. I note the Council conducted a noise nuisance investigation into Mr X’s reports after he complained to us in October 2024. The Council took all the reasonable steps we would expect of an investigation.

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Action

28. Within four weeks of the date of this decision the Council will:

• Apologise to Mr X for the uncertainty described in paragraph 25. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.

29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. I find fault causing injustice and uphold an element of Mr X’s complaint. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman