Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council refused to take enforcement action against his landlord. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to take enforcement action against his landlord. He said his landlord had failed to complete necessary repairs to his rental property and wrongly told the Council that he had refused entry. Mr X said this was not correct.
2. Mr X said the Council was discriminating against him by ignoring his version of events. He said that has left him feeling confused and distressed. He wants the Council officer involved removing from their post.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome a person wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint, it said its records showed Mr X had cancelled appointments after the Landlord had arranged these with the appropriate tradespeople. It accepted Mr X may have had good reasons for cancelling the visits, but that still meant that tradespeople could not complete the necessary work. It said the Landlord had taken court action to get an injunction to gain access to the property, so they could complete repairs. It said based on the available evidence, it was satisfied the Landlord was attempting to complete the repairs it had asked it to. The Council said it was possible it may suspend any further action until Mr X had left the property.
8. Although Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision, we will not investigate. The Council has weighed up all available evidence and reached its decision on whether to take further action against the Landlord. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it reached that decision, therefore, we cannot question the outcome. In addition, Mr X wants the Council to remove the officer involved in his case from their post. This is not an outcome we could achieve.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman