London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (24 009 067)

Category : Other Categories > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 09 Oct 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision that he should no longer be a member of a committee. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains about a Council decision that he should no longer be a member of a committee. He says the Council has refused to explain the reasons for its decision to him. He wants the council to apologise and explain its decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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:
  • there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
  • we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. Mr X sat on a Council committee, as a member of the public. The Council reviewed the committee’s membership and decided his services were no longer required. It wrote to him to advise him of this. It thanked him for his contributions to the committee’s work.
  2. We will not investigate this complaint. Councils are entitled to review the structure and membership of their committees as they see fit. Although Mr X wants further information about how this decision was reached, we could not require the Council to provide this. It has advised him of the decision and thanked him for his contributions, which is an appropriate action. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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