Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s investigation into the actions of a local builder. This is because Mrs X’s injustice lies in financial loss resulting from the actions of the builder, rather than any fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the Council’s handling of a trading standards matter. She says the Council refused to allow her to provide evidence in support of her complaint against a builder or to allow her to view the evidence provided by the builder to the Council. Mrs X says she has lost thousands of pounds and has suffered health problems.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. While Mrs X is clearly unhappy with the Council’s handling of the trading standards investigation this did not itself cause her significant injustice.
5. The injustice Mrs X claims results from the actions of the builder, rather than those of the Council. Even if the Council had investigated further and prosecuted the builder this would not have got Mrs X her money back.
6. If Mrs X wishes to pursue a refund she may wish to seek legal advice about making a claim against the builder at court. We could not provide a remedy for Mrs X’s losses or say the Council must prosecute the builder, even if we found fault in its trading standards investigation.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X’s injustice is the result of the builder’s actions rather than those of the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman