Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a complaint about the management of allotments. There is no significant injustice. Additionally, the Council have responded to Mrs X’s complaint and further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X was unhappy with the management of allotment plots and told the Council she was concerned about several breaches of an agreement the Council had with the allotment plot holders. Mrs X said misuse of the land here was a public nuisance.
2. Mrs X said she was also unhappy with how the Council handled her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We 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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X was unhappy with what she said were several breaches of a self-management agreement between the Council and allotment holders, by the allotment holders. She wrote to the Council, set out her concerns and explained why these were of concern to her, as well as the impact on her.
6. The Council replied to Mrs X and explained it had would monitor the situation going forward in line with her concerns and and set out what this action would involve. It said it would act if it needed to. It also acknowledged it had delayed responding to her concerns and apologised.
7. We will not investigate, because any injustice to Mrs X is not at a significantly serious level to warrant an investigation. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures.
8. In any case, we would not investigate this matter, because the Council indicated it would monitor Mrs X’s concerns, and it took action by visiting the location. It also apologised for delays in acting and because these actions are an appropriate response, further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
9. Mrs X was also unhappy with how the Council considered and replied to her complaint. We will not investigate this either. It is not a good use of our resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, where we are not looking at the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no significant injustice, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman