Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s reports of noise. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and we could not achieve anything more for Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to properly investigate her reports of noise from a nearby property. She says the Council wrongly decided there was no noise nuisance.

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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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, 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 Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, even though a complainant may disagree with it.
6. Ms X says noise coming from a nearby property causes disturbance through the night and affects her sleep. She reported the noise to the Council in July 2024. She says the Council told her there was no statutory nuisance.
7. The Council says it installed a noise monitoring machine at Ms X’s property. It found the sound levels at Ms X’s home were low and there was no statutory nuisance. Ms X also provided her own readings from a downloaded noise monitor. The Council explained that these devices are not accurate and the recorded level was low.
8. The Council has explained the actions it took and the reasons it decided to close the case. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision.
9. I appreciate Ms X disagrees with the Council’s findings and believes it should do more. However, the Council concluded there was insufficient evidence of a statutory nuisance to justify formal action. We cannot overturn the Council’s decision or require it to take enforcement action. We could not achieve anything more for Ms X.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we could not achieve anything more for Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman