Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s failure to respond to his contact concerning licensing and safety at an events venue. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice caused to Mr B.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council has not responded to his contact concerning licensing and safety issues at an events venue. He says as a result he feels his taxes are being spent on pensions rather than public services and an audit should be undertaken.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and gave him the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr B submitted a complaint to the Council in which he said that after complaining about ineffective investigations relating to fatalities and collapses at an events venue, he wanted to probe further into licensing matters with the Environmental Health Department. He did not receive a response to his contact.
6. Mr B says he submitted an FOI request for information about prosecutions for underage drinking and safety matters at the venue and had been told there had been none in the last 12 months.
7. Unhappy not to have received a response to the complaint he submitted to the Council, Mr B complained to the Ombudsman.

Assessment

8. While Mr B has clearly been concerned to obtain information relating to licensing matters at the events venue, it does not appear that he has suffered any personal injustice as a result of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant the launching of a formal investigation by the Ombudsman. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and, as a publicly funded body, we must use the funds allocated to us in an effective, efficient and economic manner.
9. Moreover, Mr B says he is concerned about how his taxes are being spent but as this is a matter that would affect all or most of the people in the Council’s area it is not one we can investigate.

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Final decision

The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice caused to Mr B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman