Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to put the sale of a field out to tender. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions as it has confirmed it does not own the field.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, says the Council refuses to put a publicly owned field out to tender. She says it should do so to allow different organisations to put forward proposals and bids.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mrs X.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council does not own the field. There is an historical agreement with the parish council. We cannot consider the actions of a parish council as these organisations are outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman