The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue a Certificate of Lawful Use or Development. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complainant has not suffered any personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr X, says the Council knowingly included false information in a report on an application for a Certificate of Lawful Use or Development. He says this led to the Certificate being issued even though what is built does not match the drawings.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered any personal injustice because of the Council’s decision to issue the Certificate of Lawful Use or Development.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman