The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council conducted a Community Governance Review. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the way the Council conducted a Community Governance Review (CGR). She says the Council did not ask residents in her area the same questions as other areas. Ms X says this meant she did not have the same options. Ms X would like the Council to review the questions asked, keep existing arrangements until there is more information available and ask a mediator to look into local disputes.
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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I considered national guidance and information available online about the CGR.
My assessment
Ms X lives in Area A. She complains that during the CGR, residents in Area A were not asked the same questions as those living in Area B. Ms X says this meant she was not able to tell the Council she did not want any changes to be made.
National guidance sets out how Councils should conduct a CGR. It is the Council’s decision what questions it asks, and there is no requirement for it to ask residents in different areas the same questions.
In any event, after the CGR was concluded the Council published the questions it asked residents in each area. This shows that residents in Area A and B were asked the same questions. Residents in area A were also able to provide extra information, and many of them told the Council they did not want any changes.
The Ombudsman cannot question whether a Council’s decision is right or wrong simply because a complainant disagrees with it, unless there is evidence of fault. Here, the Council made a decision that was in line with guidance and Ms X was able to add extra information if she wanted to. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decisions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman