Basildon Borough Council (20 012 423)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Mar 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mrs X complains about an advertisement placed by a company which works with the Council for a competition to design a mural for a building that had not at that time been granted planning permission. Mrs X is concerned that due process is not being followed. We will not investigate as Mrs X is not caused a significant personal injustice from her complaint.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about an advertisement placed by a company which works with the Council for a competition to design a mural for a building that had not at that time been granted planning permission. Mrs X is concerned that due process is not being followed
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mrs X said in her complaint and sent her my draft decision on it for her comments.
What I found
- Mrs X complains about an advertisement placed by a company which works with the Council for a competition to design a mural for a building that had not at that time been granted planning permission.
- Mrs X is concerned as she feels the advertisement suggests that due planning process may not be followed and that this may be due to the relationship between the Council and the company. Mrs X says that as a citizen, if she were to submit a planning application, she could not presume it would be granted but that it would be subject to the correct consideration.
Analysis
- Mrs X’s concerns do not cause her a level of injustice personally that would warrant our involvement. For this reason, we will not investigate.
Final Decision
- My decision is we will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X is not significantly, personally affected by her complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman