Summary: We will not investigate this complaint because allegations of fraud can be reported to the police, complaints about heating costs should be made to the Energy Ombudsman and it is likely the fire safety system in the property is the responsibility of the building landlord, not the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr B says the Council:

• committed fraud through an energy company that it owns;
• unfairly raised the price of heating for residents; and
• failed to maintain the fire suppression system in the block of flats

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as energy companies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invite Mr B to comment on this draft decision.

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What I found

6. Mr B says members of the Council committed fraud when creating and running the Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN), an energy company owned by the Council.
7. Allegations of fraud are a police matter. Without evidence Mr B has suffered significant personal injustice from them, rather than there being a general effect on public finances, there is no basis for the Ombudsman to investigate the actions complained of.
8. Mr B says that he, and other residents, are having to pay unfair prices for heating provided by SDEN and are locked into a 25 year contract. He says the Council has refused to address this and have asked him to make his complaint to SDEN but he has not done so.
9. The Council owns SDEN, but it is a separate limited company and has its own complaints process. The SDEN website says if someone is not happy with its response to a complaint, they can go to the Energy Ombudsman.
10. The Energy Ombudsman is part of Ombudsman Services, a private sector membership scheme. We cannot investigate matters about energy companies.
11. Mr B says the Council failed to maintain fire suppression equipment present in his and other residents’ buildings, and there have been incidents of system failure.
12. The residential area is a private housing development.
13. The equipment maintenance is unlikely to be the Council’s responsibility rather than the landlord’s. This is not a service that a Council usually provides, and there is nothing to say it does on this occasion.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate allegations of fraud by members of the Council because they are properly for the police. We cannot investigate the actions of private energy companies and it is unlikely to be the Council’s responsibility to maintain the fire suppression system where Mr B lives so there is no basis for us to investigate that part of the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman