The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s report of washing being hung out in the front garden of a property in his locale. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has not responded adequately to his report of washing being hung out in the front garden of a property in his locale.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We are a publicly funded body and have an obligation to use the funds allocated to us in an effective, efficient and economic manner. This means that we do not investigate every complaint we receive.
While Mr X may be disappointed with the Council’s response to his report of washing being hung out in a front garden of a property near him, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to him to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman