The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Authority’s decision to remove his permit, to deposit waste at a waste recycling centre. There is no enough evidence of fault, and we cannot achieve the outcome he wants.
The complaint
Mr X is unhappy the Authority withdrew his permit to dispose of waste at a waste recycling centre it manages. Mr X said the Authority’s actions discriminate against him because of the vehicle he uses, and he wants it to reinstate his permit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 Mr X and the Authority.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X said the Authority had previously given him a permit to deposit waste at a waste recycling centre. Mr X said, at short notice, the authority withdrew his permit, saying because of the length of his vehicle, he would no longer be allowed to access the waste facility.
Mr X complained about this, saying the Authority’s actions were discriminatory and unreasonable. The Authority replied to Mr X’s complaint and explained it had decided to introduce restriction for safety reasons. It also explained how it arrived at this decision.
Because of the Authority’s explanation here, I have not seen any evidence of fault in its decision to withdraw Mr X’s permit and the reasons it gave him. In any case Mr X wants his permit reinstated and this is not something we could direct the Authority to do.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault, and we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman