Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a complaint about a town council. This is because the complainant has not suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained about how the Council has dealt with his complaint about the actions of a town council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about the issues he experienced and the service he received when he contacted a town council. The Council said it would not look into the issues Mr X raised about the town council as the matter fell outside of its jurisdiction. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response and says he also had problems when he contacted it by telephone to raise his concerns.
6. However, even if I did agree there was fault with how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaints, I do not consider that the injustice suffered because of the issues raised, would be significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman