Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s record keeping as it does not cause the complainant sufficient injustice to warrant our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to keep records of meetings with a developer around drainage issues. Mr X considers this puts a number of properties at increased risk of flooding. Mr X also complains the Council failed to properly deal with the complaint he subsequently made about this. Mr X says he was caused frustration by this, and he would like the Council to implement protocols to ensure meeting records are kept and to provide answers to his queries.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. While Mr X says he is concerned that a number of properties will be more prone to flooding, he gives no indication that this may impact his own property. In addition, such concerns are speculative and would not provide grounds for us to investigate, as per paragraph two. Any increased flood risk could not be said in any case to arise from Mr X’s specific complaint to us, that is, the standard of the Council’s record keeping alone.
6. I recognise that Mr X is also unhappy about the way the Council dealt with his complaint, but we will not investigate this as a stand alone issue when we will not investigate the substantive matter.
7. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is not caused sufficient personal injustice from it to warrant our further involvement.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman