Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to include the complainant’s land in its Brownfield Land Register. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision, and we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to include his land in its Brownfield Land Register (BLR).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

3. With regard to the first bullet point above, we can consider whether there was administrative or procedural fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no such fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence and the Council’s April 2024 decision on the BLR application.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I appreciate Mr X is very unhappy the Council has refused to include his land in the BLR.
7. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council reached.
8. Here, the Council has considered the arguments presented by Mr X, and has explained why it does not consider the site meets the criteria for inclusion on the BLR. As such, I consider there is insufficient evidence of procedural fault in the way the Council has reached its decision, so we will not start an investigation.
9. Furthermore, we cannot direct the Council to add Mr X’s site to the BLR, so we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision on his BLR application, and we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman