Birmingham City Council (23 013 888)
Category : Environment and regulation > Health and safety
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Jan 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a report of a breach of health and safety at work regulations. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council has refused to investigate his report of a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
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 how the organisation made its decision, 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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Concerns were raised on Mr X’s behalf about a potential breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by a local business that Mr X was not employed by but did have a professional connection with. The Council carried out an assessment which considered the issues raised, the Council’s duties and Health and Safety legislation. The conclusion reached was that there was no mandatory duty to investigate the matter and nor should it exercise its discretionary duties to investigate.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. It has fully considered relevant information before reaching its decision. Whilst Mr X strongly disagrees with the Council’s decision not to investigate, it does not mean that the Council has done anything wrong. In the absence of fault in the Council’s decision making the Ombudsman cannot question the merits of the conclusions reached by the Council.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman