Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a complaint made against one of its officers. This is because an investigation is unlikely to usefully add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of a complaint he made concerning the conduct of an officer involved in assessing an application for works to a tree the subject of a TPO.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X applied to carry out work to prune a tree on his land which is the subject of a TPO. The Council gave consent for the work.
6. Unhappy with the officer assessment of the tree at his initial site visit and with his conduct during a second visit, Mr X complained to the Council about the behaviour of the officer.
7. The Council investigated Mr X’s concerns but concluded there was no evidence of the officer behaving in a manner which warranted further action and it did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
8. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and while Mr X’s dissatisfaction with the Council’s investigation is noted, there are sufficient grounds to warrant a formal investigation of the complaint by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to usefully add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman