Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the response the Council gave to a question asked by the complainant. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault by the Council had caused the complaint injustice that would justify his involvement. He will not investigate how the Council dealt with a complaint about something we will not pursue.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about the Council’s response to a written question he put to a committee about an environmental matter. He says the Council said figures he used in the question were inaccurate and has not fully explained its reasons for this. Mr B says the Council did not properly consider his complaint about this.

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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’.
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint which included the Council’s response to his concerns. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

6. I appreciate Mr B considers the figures he presented with his question, which related to carbon emissions, were accurate. The Council has said it uses a different methodology and does not agree with Mr B’s analysis. It says it did not intend to question his integrity.
7. I consider the subject area is complex and I do not think the Council is at fault for using different figures than those used by Mr B. Further, while I appreciate Mr B believes his integrity has been questioned, I do not consider he has been caused injustice which justifies the use of public funds to investigate.

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Final decision

8. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council has caused Mr B significant injustice. As we will not investigate the substantive issue, we will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr B’s complaint about this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman