The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to make a listed building application and failure to fully address the complainant’s concerns. 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 confirmed he has suffered no personal injustice because of the Council’s actions.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has failed to make a listed building application and failed to fully address all the concerns he raised in his complaint.
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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.
(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 Council.
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 actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman