Wyre Borough Council (21 009 123)
Category : Environment and regulation > Antisocial behaviour
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s reports of noise nuisance. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council which warrants investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of his reports of noise nuisance from an adjacent neighbour.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council about noise nuisance from an adjacent neighbour. The Council considered Mr X’s diary sheets, wrote to the neighbour and installed noise monitoring equipment. As its investigation did not find evidence of noise nuisance, it offered Mr X the use of the noise recorder again and asked that he submit more detailed diary sheets so it could assess matters further.
- While Mr X did not want to take the Council up on its offer at that time, the Council told him if the problems return with intensity, he can request the recorder and complete the diary sheets. Were we to investigate, it is unlikely we would find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant investigation or that an investigation would lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council which warrants investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman