The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the allocation of funds for proposed works. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing the complainant an injustice.
The complaint
Mr X complains that proposals submitted to a Council committee to approve proposed works were invalid as they constituted a misuse of an allocated budget. Mr X says the budget was in place for refurbishment, but the proposals did not constitute refurbishment. Mr X also complains how the Council dealt with his complaint about this matter.
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 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: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The committee that made the decision to approve the proposed works were provided with sufficient information to make an informed decision. Whether the works constituted ‘refurbishment’ or not is open for interpretation, but I am satisfied that the committee had sufficient information about what the proposals entailed before it reached its decision.
Mr X has made it clear that his complaint isn’t about the decision itself, but how the funds were allocated. I do not consider that he has demonstrated that this has caused him any personal injustice.
Finally, I will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint. This is because it is not a good use of public funds to investigate complaint handling when we have decided not to investigate the substantive issues raised in the complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing him an injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman