Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of Mr X’s concerns about the way a community organisation was managing a building. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and any delays by the Council in considering Mr X’s concern did not directly lead to his club losing out on funding.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains on behalf of a local sports club which uses a building which the Council rents out to a community organisation. Mr X says the Council has failed to investigate his complaints about the community organisation and delays in the complaints process meant the sports club missed out on funding.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. The Ombudsman investigates 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. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X raised concerns with the Council about the management of the building by the community organisation in August 2020. The Council organised an independent panel to consider Mr X’s concerns. The panel produced a report with a series of findings in March 2021. Mr X complained to the Council about the conduct of the panel and its findings before raising a complaint with the Ombudsman in August 2021.
7. Mr X raised concerns about the actions of the community organisation dating back to 2016. These are late complaints and so we will not consider them. However, taking account of the time it took for the panel to consider Mr X’s concerns we can consider what happened from 2019 onwards.
8. Mr X’s sports club has a contract with the community organisation to use the building. The sports club has no contractual relationship with the Council. The Council’s only involvement in this case is as owner of the building and landlord to the community organisation. Therefore, it is unlikely we would find fault with the actions of the Council in the way the community organisation managed the building on a day to day basis since 2019. The community organisation was not managing the building on behalf of the Council.
9. The Council has considered Mr X’s concerns about the way the community organisation has been managing the building. The Council has agreed to include provision for Mr X’s club within the new lease for the building. This will mean that the community organisation will sub lease part of the building to the club. This will give the club security over its future.
10. Mr X says the length of the lease being offered and delays in the Council’s investigations meant he was unable to accept funding for the club. The Council is not obliged to ensure Mr X’s club has a lease of a specific length. It is open to
    Mr X to find alternative premises for the club if the terms being offered do not allow him to apply for external funding. It is also unlikely that we could say delays by the Council directly led to Mr X having to refuse to accept funding. Mr X and the club took a risk applying for funding when therr was uncertainty about the outcome of the Council’s investigations.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council. It is also unlikely we could say that any delays in the Council responding to his concerns caused his club to lose out on possible funding.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman