East Riding of Yorkshire Council (24 019 621)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a charity’s treatment of his late father. This is because the charity was not carrying out any administrative functions on behalf of the Council and it is not itself a body within our jurisdiction. Its actions are not therefore subject to investigation by the Ombudsman. We could not achieve any worthwhile outcome by investigating the way the Council dealt with Mr X’s complaint as it is not responsible for the actions complained about.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the way a charity treated his late father. He says the Council appointed trustees to the board of the charity and he therefore wants it to intervene in his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of the council complained about. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- There is no evidence to show the charity’s actions relate to any administrative function of the Council and we cannot therefore investigate any complaint about them.
- Although the Council previously appointed trustees to the charity this does not mean it takes on responsibility for its actions. We could not therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating the Council’s handling of Mr X’s complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman