Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s communication with him. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to justify further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way the Council has communicated with him by email and is unhappy with the outcome of the Council’s investigation.

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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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X is a private landlord who leases property to Council tenants.
6. The Council wrote to Mr X about his communication with Council staff, as it considered his behaviour to be unreasonable.
7. Mr X was unhappy that the Council’s email included one of his employees. The Council apologised for this and accepted that it would have been more appropriate to raise the issue directly with Mr X.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because I do not consider that any injustice to Mr X due to the Council’s communication is significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint, as any injustice is not significant enough to justify further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman