The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the wording in the license for a permanent mobile home site. That is because the Council has already agreed to review the wording therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complained the licence for his permanent mobile home site incorrectly stated it was a criminal offence not to comply with the licence. He said the incorrect use of language was misleading and a form of harassment. He wants the Council to amend the licence and pay compensation for the distress caused.
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: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
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 granted Mr X a licence for a permanent residential mobile home site. Following that, he complained about the wording in the licence. He said it incorrectly stated breach of the licence conditions was a criminal offence. He said he would not display the licence given it contained misleading information.
The Council said its Licensing Committee would review the wording in its next meeting at the start of March 2022. It said as that committee agreed the wording, it was only correct it consider it for review. The Council confirmed that Mr X did not need to display the licence in the interim.
We will not investigate this complaint further. The Council has agreed to review the wording in the licence therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. Additionally, any injustice Mr X states he has experienced by the wording of the licence is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman