Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (26 000 657)
Category : Environment and regulation > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about the Council’s handling of an Antisocial Behaviour case because part of it is late, and there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement regarding more recent matters.
The complaint
- Mrs Y complains about the Council’s handling of an Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) case involving her neighbour.
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)
- 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs Y and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs Y says issues with her neighbour have been ongoing since 2022. The Council previously investigated this and closed the ASB case in 2023. We expect people to come to us within 12 months of being aware of a matter and Mrs Y did not raise a complaint with us until 2026. Therefore, part of this complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
- Mrs Y reported further issues to the Council in 2025, and it reopened the ASB case. The Council engaged with Mrs Y and advised her of what action it was taking to investigate the issues. There is not enough evidence of fault regarding the Council’s recent handling of the ASB case, therefore we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because part of it is late, and there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement regarding more recent matters.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman