West Northamptonshire Council (21 013 120)
Category : Environment and regulation > Health and safety
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to address breaches in health and safety law in relation to a property bought by Mr X. This is 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 repeatedly failed to address his concerns of health and safety breaches by the previous owner of a property he bought despite it being responsible for enforcing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulations.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, including its responses to the complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X bought a property which has asbestos present within it. He contacted the Council, asking it to take action against the previous owner for a breach of HSE regulations stating that the asbestos had not been properly dealt with.
- The Council explained to Mr X that it could not retrospectively gather evidence to determine whether or not the previous owner had breached the regulations. It said it could not know now what measures had been taken to manage the issue while the previous owner had been occupying the premises.
- While this may be a disappointing decision for Mr X, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council or obtain the outcome Mr X seeks. The condition of the property, and the presence of any asbestos, would have been a matter for consideration prior to purchase and the maxim caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman