Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the behaviour of an officer who dealt with a neighbour nuisance complaint. This is because we could not add to the previous investigation by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr C, complains about the Council’s handling of a neighbour nuisance complaint. Mr C says that an officer dealing with the matter was rude and abusive to him during a site visit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered Mr C’s complaint and the Council’s response.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council wrote to Mr C to tell him that it had received complaints about a bonfire at his property. The letter warned Mr C that the Council may act in the future if the bonfires continue and advised him that he could pay for garden waste to be collected.
6. Mr C complained that the officer who sent him the letter had previously been rude and abusive to him during a site visit, when Mr C challenged him for taking photographs.
7. The officer who sent the letter denied attending the site to take photographs. The Council said there was no record of any site visit and that there would have been no reason for any such visit.
8. I will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the behaviour of an officer dealing with a neighbour nuisance complaint. This is because we could not add to the Council’s investigation. The Council has no record of a visit taking place and the officer denies Mr C’s claims. As there is no further evidence and as I was not privy to these events, I am unable to reconcile the conflicting views of exactly what happened. It is therefore unlikely we could make a finding on this issue.

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate Mr C’s complaint because there is nothing I could add to the Council’s investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman