Summary: The investigation of this complaint will be ended. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in its investigation of complaints made about noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour from other residents of temporary accommodation, after the last complaint to the Ombudsman was closed.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss X, complains about the Council’s response to her complaints about anti-social behaviour from other tenants from November 2022 until February 2023.

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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
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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))

3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the papers put in by Miss X.
5. Miss X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Miss X’s previous complaint to the Ombudsman was closed on 23 June 2023 (22 011 036). This complaint covered events up to the start of November 2022. Miss X made a new complaint about events from November 2022 until February 2023.
7. Miss X’s previous complaint found no fault by the Council, other than a delay in informing her of the outcome of visits. The investigator was satisfied the Council properly considered its investigation of the reports from Miss X about other residents. The Council accepted it took too long (12 weeks) to explain to Miss X that it would not be taking any action.
8. Miss X has made a new complaint about ongoing issues from November 2022 to February 2023. She complains the Council:
• Ignores reports she makes about other tenants;
• Shared confidential information with another tenant;
• Did not respond to emails in a timely manner;
• Treated her unfairly and disrespectfully;
• Accepted false reports from sound complaint officers and did not acknowledge evidence she had to prove otherwise.
9. We have investigated similar complaints from Miss X. She has previously complained the Council:
• lacked empathy and was disrespectful in how it communicated with her before she moved into the accommodation, and provided false information;
• did not properly investigate or respond to her when she reported anti-social behaviour from other residents including noise and aggressive behaviour;
• did not properly investigate her complaint about these issues, was biased in its consideration of the complaint, and inappropriately shared her complaint with a member of staff she was complaining about.
10. I have looked at the Council’s response of April 2023. I can see the Council has investigated but did not uphold her complaint. The Council has visited her at her home to respond to her concerns. It has also offered mediation between her and her neighbour. The Council officer has also responded to her emails within the Council’s target of ten working days. The Council has said that it is happy to investigate new queries but repeating the same information was not an efficient use of officer time.
11. On the information I have available, there is insufficient evidence of new fault by the Council that warrants further investigation. Miss X has said that wants the period from November 2022 to February 2023 investigated now and wants assurances the period from February to April 2023 will be investigated in the future.
12. The Ombudsman is 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, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
13. The Council has continued to investigate the complaints Miss X has made and the complaints made against her. Miss X complains the Council has not treated complaints made against her in the same way as it has complaints made about her by her neighbours. She also complains about the Council’s decision on the evidence supplied and the Council officers attitude towards her. These are the same issues that were considered in Miss X’s previous complaint, though for a different time period.
14. The Council has responded to Miss X’s complaints and considered the evidence she has supplied. The Council has responded to her emails and met with her. It is not for us to decide whether or not the video evidence she provided was a statutory nuisance. We are not a right of appeal against the Council’s decision on this point. The Ombudsman is publicly funded and it is not a good use of public money for us to investigate every contact Miss X has with the Council.

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Final decision

15. I have ended my investigation and do not uphold Miss X’s complaint. There is insufficient evidence of significant fault or injustice to warrant further investigation of a time period immediately after her last complaint was closed.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman