Northumberland County Council (21 015 434)
Category : Environment and regulation > Antisocial behaviour
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council investigated Mr X’s concerns about noise from a neighbouring property. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council has failed to investigate his complaints about noise from a neighbouring property. He says there is no soundproofing in the property. Mr X says the noise causes him significant distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has carried out visits to Mr X’s property and an acoustic survey has also been undertaken. Neither the Council nor the survey found evidence of significant noise that was not due to normal domestic use of the neighbouring property. The Council has also found that noise levels recorded were within limits allowed by current building regulations even though the property was constructed some time ago.
- There is no evidence of fault in how the Council has investigated Mr X’s noise complaints. The Council has carried out sufficient investigations into the noise and considered an acoustic survey and relevant legislation in reaching its decision.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in how the Council investigated his noise complaints.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman