LGO investigation finds council failed to investigate 6,300+ noise complaints

September 21, 2018

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has found that Lambeth Council turned down more than 6,300 complaints about noise nuisance.

The situation came to light when the LGO examined a woman’s complaint about the way Lambeth handled her concerns about noise emanating from a neighbouring flat which she said caused her to suffer ill-health.

Officers initially investigated the woman’s complaint, but they did not visit during times when the nuisance occurred, the Ombudsman said.

In 2016 Lambeth changed its policy so it would not investigate a complaint unless more than three people had complained about the same issue. This meant officers decided not to look into the woman’s further complaint.

The LGO said that during its investigation it became apparent that 6,353 other complaints had not been considered because of the change in policy.

The Ombudsman found fault with Lambeth for changing its policy, which it said meant the authority was not meeting its statutory obligations.

Lambeth has now agreed to:

apologise to the woman for refusing to investigate her complaint;
investigate her complaint and report its findings within six weeks;
amend its policy to ensure it complies with its statutory duties;
publicise locally the changes it has made, making it clear it will investigate those complaints it has previously refused to investigate, if the nuisance complained of recurs or is ongoing.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said: “Ongoing noise nuisance can cause significant distress, but Lambeth council’s policy unfairly swept many people’s complaints under the carpet. Councils have a statutory duty to investigate and cannot impose their own limits on what they will and will not consider.

“I’m pleased Lambeth council has now changed its policy to recognise its duties, and will now look into any ongoing concerns that have not been investigated previously.”

In response to the report, Lambeth Council said it fully accepted the findings of the LGO and apologised unreservedly for the inconvenience caused by the changes to the statutory noise service, introduced in 2016.

It said: "The council made the changes in response to continued government budget cuts, in line with government legislation and following an assessment that found that the service was ineffective.

"However, we had already acted to review the effectiveness of the amended service before this LGO investigation. As a result of that review, we plan to introduce a new noise nuisance service and extend the night time service offering from Thursday – Saturday (including the early hours of Sunday morning). The most serious complaints will be given priority."

The council added: "The LGO report acknowledges these plans to improve the service, which underline our determination to tackle persistent noise nuisance. This new service will provide stronger enforcement and swifter responses for residents whose lives are blighted by this anti-social behaviour.

"We recognise that the service, while successfully focusing on some of the most serious cases, did not adequately respond to cases that did not meet a higher threshold but still caused disruption for residents. That is why the council has reviewed the service and is introducing an improved service that will support residents affected by noise nuisance.
We believe that the cost of investigating these historical complaints would be excessive, and that council taxpayers’ money would be better used to improve the service to ensure future complaints are handled more effectively."