Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint about the conduct of a councillor. This is because Mr X is not caused significant injustice from his complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has not properly dealt with his complaint that a councillor ignored his requests for assistance.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.

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What I found

4. Mr X contacted his local councillor about a golf shelter that was being erected in his neighbourhood. Mr X says the councillor failed to respond to two emails and a telephone call he made to him.
5. Mr X complained to the Council about this and is unhappy that the Council has refused to investigate his complaint.

Assessment

6. Mr X is unhappy the councillor did not respond, and about how the Council dealt with his complaint, but this does not represent a level of injustice that would warrant our involvement. Mr X has given no indication of any other personal injustice arising from his complaint.

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Final decision

7. My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint as Mr X is not caused a significant, personal injustice from it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman