The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not responded to questions he posed in relation to consultation it carried out about a proposed Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has refused to answer 10 questions he raised relating to pollution and health in connection with consultation it carried out about an AQMA. He says it shows the Council does not care about his health.
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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
How I considered this complaint
I spoke to Mr X and considered information he provided.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council consulted on the proposal for the creation of an AQMA. Mr X responded to the consultation, asking the Council to record his comments as his response to the consultation. Within Mr X’s response he set out 10 sections which he headed Question 1 to 10 although some of the “questions” were comment and not questions.
The Council did not respond to Mr X’s 10 “questions” and when he asked for the matter to be put through its complaints procedure it told him it could not treat his comments as a complaint but confirmed his comments would be considered.
I understand Mr X is unhappy not to have received from the Council its comments and responses to the queries he raised. However, he responded as part of a consultation exercise and his comments will be considered in the normal way. We would not expect the Council to respond individually to consultees.
If Mr X wants information the Council has not provided, then it is open to him to contact the Information Commissioner.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman