| Publishing organisation: | Public Services Ombudsman for Wales |
| Topic: | Anti-social behaviour |
| Determination: | Maladministration |
| Tenure: | Secure |
Organisation:
| Cardiff County Council |
| Country of relevance: | Wales |
| Report link: | Click here to view this document |
Miss Brown (not her real name for legal reasons) was a Council tenant living in a high rise block. She and her partner Mr Davies (not his real name for legal reasons) complained that she had been subject to anti-social behaviour including amplified music and threatening behaviour from a neighbour, also a Council tenant, for a period of six years.
They said that they had complained to the Council repeatedly and had completed nuisance diaries as requested to assist the Council with addressing their complaints. Miss Brown and Mr Davies said that the Council had not communicated with them adequately nor did the different sections that were involved in their complaint appear to be working together. They had also made complaints through their MP and councillor but the problems continued. They said that the neighbour would have been on an introductory tenancy when he moved in and they could not understand why he had not been evicted early on in his occupation or subsequently after the complaints became more serious in nature and when he received a criminal conviction.
Investigation
By the time my investigation was completed the perpetrator of the nuisance had been transferred by the Council in October 2008, for reasons unconnected with the complaints against him. However he remained in close proximity to the complainants and they said that they continued to live in fear.
The Ombudsman's predecessor had issued a public report on Cardiff County Council in January 2007 in which he upheld complaints brought on behalf of three residents by Julie Morgan MP. They complained that they had suffered unaddressed anti-social behaviour from a perpetrator for periods extending into years. He found that the Council had failed to consider the full range of legal remedies available to deal with the behaviour and his report made various recommendations for improving the Council’s response to anti-social behaviour including improvements to internal communications and training for staff. The Council accepted the recommendations and implemented an action plan that was completed in March 2007.
Having concluded the investigation into Miss Brown’s complaint, I was concerned that further failings in the Council’s response to anti-social behaviour had been identified, including the fact that it does not act appropriately in relation to terminating unsatisfactory introductory tenancies and that its procedures and actions do not take appropriate regard of human rights legislation. I also noted that long after the period for compliance on the last report, the Council had continued to fail in its responsibilities to the complainants and in particular had failed to consider the full range of legal remedies available to it to protect its tenant and bring the nuisance to an end.
The Council in its response to my draft report advised that it did not accept all of the failings listed nor was it prepared to accept my recommendations in full.
Determination
In my report I recommend that the Council should transfer Miss Brown to suitable alternative accommodation, apologise for the failings and pay her £7,500 in recognition of the difficulties she had experienced. I also recommend that it should revise its procedures for dealing with anti-social behaviour to take account of human rights and homelessness considerations and should provide further training to its staff in dealing with anti-social behaviour sanctions including demotion of secure tenancies and termination of introductory tenancies. I also recommend that it should take steps to further improve internal communication.