Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to tell her about vacant business premises it subsequently let to a competitor. This is because we could not say the Council’s actions caused Miss X significant injustice and we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome by investigating the matter further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council failed to provide her with details of available business premises she may be able to use to expand her business. She also complains about the Council’s agreement to lease premises to a competitor as she says the process was not transparent.

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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 effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining and what we can achieve by investigating the complaint further.
6. In this case we could not say the Council’s handling of the lease for its premises caused Miss X significant injustice. This is because we could not say that had it told Miss X about the opportunity at the time, the outcome would have been different. While Miss X may have bid for the premises, had she known about its availability, the Council had clear reasons for choosing to offer a lease to the third party and it is pure speculation to say it would have chosen Miss X’s offer over theirs.
7. We could also not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X by investigating the matter further. Miss X would like an apology but this would not justify the cost of investigation. We cannot say the Council must withdraw from the lease agreement and while Miss X wishes to ensure the Council does not cut her out of future opportunities it is entitled to act in accordance with its policy. This allows it to agree direct lets where there are good reasons and we could not therefore say it must let Miss X know about and bid on every future vacancy that arises.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not say the Council’s actions caused Miss X significant injustice and we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for her by investigating further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman