Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council has failed to take action to address its tenant’s anti-social behaviour and harassment. This is because the Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about the Council’s management of its social housing.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complained that the Council has failed to take action to address its tenant’s anti-social behaviour and harassment. Mr B told us what has happened has significantly affected his and his partner’s health and destroyed their lives.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information Mr B provided, his complaints to the Council and the Council’s responses to his complaints. I have given Mr B an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr B told the Council he wants it to move his neighbour to another property because of many breaches of her tenancy agreement. In his complaint to us Mr B said the Council owes him and his partner huge apologies for the untold stress it has caused them with its unprofessional attitudes, lack of knowledge, callous treatment of them and total lack of action. He said that led to the Council’s tenant abusing them for far longer. Mr B told us the Council sent one of its letters to his neighbour’s address rather than to his address which worsened the situation for him.
6. Mr B’s neighbour is a council tenant. So it was officers who deal with tenancy issues who responded initially to his complaints about his neighbours. The Council asked Mr B to complete incident sheets and told him, once he had returned them, it would assess whether to refer his case to its community safety or environmental health service. In its response at stage 2 of the complaint process the Council said the case was ongoing and the police were leading it. In its final response to Mr B’s complaint the Council apologised for its data breach. It said Mr B’s neighbour had assured the police she did not receive the Council’s letter. The Council told Mr B it would wait for the outcome of the police investigation before deciding whether to take formal enforcement action against its tenant.
7. In this case Mr B wants the Council to take action in its role of managing its social housing tenancies. He wants the Council to move its tenant elsewhere. The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating complaints about the Council’s management of its social housing.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because he cannot investigate complaints about the Council’s management of its social housing.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman