Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about trading standards because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly refused to investigate his trading standards complaint. He also complains about how it handled his complaint.

Back to top

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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Mr X had some work done in his home and says he was significantly overcharged. He contacted the Council. It referred him to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. This service is responsible for passing information onto the relevant trading standards service where further investigation is needed. This body is not within our jurisdiction.
6. Mr X says he did not hear anything further from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service and contacted the Council to complain. The Council told him it would not investigate his complaint.
7. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached.
8. The Council reviewed the information Mr X provided and considered the likelihood an offence had occurred in the context of complaint patterns about similar allegations and decided not to investigate the matter.
9. While Mr X may disagree with the outcome, as the Council considered relevant information in forming its view, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
10. Mr X has complained about how the Council handled his complaint. 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.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman