Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (20 010 267)
Category : Environment and regulation > Pollution
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about 5G masts. This is because we could not add to Council’s previous investigation.
The complaint
- Mr Y complains the Council has allowed 5G masts to be put up in the area without human testing of the effects. Mr Y says he has since suffered with severe headaches, migraines, and ill health. He is also feels his concerns have been ignored by the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr Y complained to the Council about the 5G masts in June 2021. He said his health was being badly affected by the masts. The Council responded explaining that government advice was that evidence shows 5G masts are unlikely to pose a risk to health.
- While Mr Y may now be suffering from ill health, we would not be able in our investigation to establish a link between the 5G masts being put up and Mr Y’s decline in health. The government has issued guidance which says evidence shows the masts do not pose a risk to people’s health and the Council has explained this to Mr Y. We would not be able to add further to the Council’s response so we will not investigate this complaint.
- Mr Y says he feels his concerns have been ignored because of how the Council responded to his complaint. However, as we are not investigating the substantive issue in this complaint, it is not a good use of resources to investigate the council’s complaint handling. We will therefore not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because we could not add to Council’s previous investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman