Harrogate Borough Council (20 014 158)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 May 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr Q complains the Council has failed to follow the correct tendering process and refuses to answer his questions. We will not investigate this complaint as we cannot consider matters which affect all or most of the residents in the Council’s area.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I shall call Mr Q, says the Council has refused to answer all valid questions about its decision to bypass normal tendering process when awarding a contract.
- He says its failure for provide full answers to his questions undermines his trust in the Council. He asks why as a citizen he should pay council tax for an organisation that will not explain how it spends public money.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered:
- the information provided by Mr Q
- copies of Mr Q’s emails to the Council and its responses to the same
- Mr Q’s comments on the draft version of this decision.
What I found
- Mr Q complains the Council refuses to answer his questions which include allegations that it failed to follow the correct tendering process for contract for a new website.
- He has concerns as he believes the Council has breached the requirements of its Constitution.
- In response to my draft decision Mr Q refers to his concerns about the Councils misuse of public money and refusal to answer questions about the matter. He also confirms the matter has no personal affect on him.
- If there has been misuse of public money, this affects everyone who is a resident of the area and Mr Q has not suffered a particular personal injustice. This means that any complaint about this is out of jurisdiction (see paragraph 4).
Final decision
- I cannot investigate this complaint. Mr Q alleges misuse of public money. This is a matter which would affect all the residents of the Council’s area, not just Mr Q. The complaint is therefore out of our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman