Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to properly investigate his report about a local trader. This is because the Council’s actions did not cause Mr X significant injustice and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants, which is to recover the money he paid the trader and force the Council to take action against them at court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to progress his trading standards complaint about a local car dealer which he reported in 2020. He says he lost £2,000 as the car he purchased broke down shortly after he bought it and he believes the Council should have taken action against the trader at court.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The injustice Mr X claims- the loss of his £2,000- stems from his purchase of the vehicle from the trader rather than any actions of the Council. Trading Standards can investigate alleged breaches of consumer protection legislation but they cannot provide a remedy for claims for loss or damage.
6. Mr X first reported his concerns about the trader through Citizens Advice in 2020 and they advised him at the time that if he wanted to recover his money he would need to make a claim against the trader at court. That is the case even if the Council had investigated and prosecuted the trader for breaches of the relevant legislation.
7. I appreciate Mr X is unhappy the Council has not taken action against the trader but this does not directly or significantly affect him. We will not therefore investigate the matter further.
8. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants, which is an opportunity to recover his £2,000 payment and for the Council to take further action against the trader at court. Whether Mr X is entitled to a refund is a matter for the courts to determine and we cannot force the Council to prosecute the trader even if there was fault in the way it handled Mr X’s report.
9. In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council has confirmed it will consider whether to investigate the matter further and its considerations now are the same as would have applied when Mr X first reported his concerns. It is therefore unlikely we could achieve anything more by investigating this complaint further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because any fault by the Council did not cause Mr X significant injustice and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman