The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint about a parish council as it is unlikely we will find any Council fault has caused a significant injustice to Mr X and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has not properly responded to his complaint that a local parish council is unelected. Mr X wants the parish council to be dissolved. Mr X has been caused stress and annoyance by how the Council has responded.
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 significant injustice to the person who complained, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as parish councils (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
While I recognise Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint, he is not impacted personally to a degree that would warrant our further involvement. In addition, we cannot investigate parish councils, as they are not bodies within our remit. We cannot therefore achieve any meaningful outcome for Mr X by investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any Council fault has not caused him a significant personal injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman