The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint about a parish council as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
The complaint
Mr X complained about a parish council’s response to a planning application and is unhappy that the Council has refused to investigate. Mr X wants the parish council to receive training.
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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has told Mr X that it has no remit to investigate parish councils. This is the case and so there is no fault by the Council in telling Mr X this.
We also have no remit to investigate parish councils and so we could not, in any case, achieve the outcome Mr X seeks, which is for training to be provided to the parish council.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman