The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about changes that the Council made to the licencing conditions for a park home site where the complainant lives. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about changes the Council made to a licence for a park home site where he lives. Mr X says the Council has removed the maximum number of units allowed on the site which Mr X says will negatively impact his tenancy.
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 the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X lives on a park home site which has planning permission for 75 units. In 2007, the Council issued the site with a licence which included a number of conditions including the maximum number of units.
The Council has since decided that the maximum number of units will no longer be included on licences such as these, because this is a matter dictated by the planning process. Therefore, when a new licence was issued for the park home site where Mr X lives it did not include the maximum number of units.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council has discretion about what conditions to include when issuing licences. It has fully justified its reasons for not including the maximum number of units on these licences and therefore there is no evidence of fault. The Ombudsman cannot question the outcome of its decision if there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman