Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to handle Mr X’s noise complaint fairly or consistently. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council; and it is not proportionate to investigate the complaints handling issue on its own.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to handle his noise complaint fairly or consistently. He said the Council failed to follow its own complaints policy. He said this has caused prolonged disturbance to his home life and significant distress.
2. Mr X wants a new council officer to reconsider his complaint properly, improve its services and pay a financial remedy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X reported in 2024 a high-pitched noise from a business extractor fan near his home. The Council did not consider this a statutory nuisance, but spoke to the business, which agreed to service the fan. Mr X said this resolved the issue temporarily.
7. Mr X contacted the Council again in mid-2025, saying the noise had returned. He did not want to make a formal complaint and asked the Council to follow up informally with the business, as it had before. But the Council said it would need to investigate, which could include an officer witnessing the noise, diary sheets and noise monitoring equipment in Mr X’s home.
8. Mr X said the Council’s responses were flawed and contradictory because it would not repeat the informal approach that had previously resolved the noise. But there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. It was entitled to deal with the 2024 report informally, and to say in 2025 that it needed to investigate the renewed complaint. That investigation could establish whether there was a statutory nuisance and what action, if any, was appropriate. So we could not achieve anything more by investigating.
9. While Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about.  We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman