Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to matters concerning lighting from Mr X’s property and street lighting. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council and because Mr X can contact the Information Commissioner with his concerns about a data breach.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about action the Council took against him in relation to a light he had installed which shone into a neighbour’s property and about its response to his concerns about street lighting outside his own property. He says there was a data breach when his details were passed on to the County Council.

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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 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 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, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council took enforcement action against Mr X over a light from his property which it described as being overly bright and poorly directed. As the abatement notice issued to him contained appeal rights to the Magistrates Court which we would reasonably expect Mr X to use if he wanted to challenge the notice, this matter falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be pursued.
7. In response to his complaint about street lighting outside his property, the Council told Mr X that responsibility for the lighting lay with the County Council and it passed on his complaint to that council. It Mr X believes there has been a data breach, it is open to him to contact the Information Commissioner which is the body best placed to deal with such matters.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council and because Mr X can contact the Information Commissioner with his concerns about a data breach.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman