Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fire safety. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating, and we could not add to the previous investigation by the Authority.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained his reports of fire hazards near his home were not properly considered.
2. Mr Y said the Authority’s failure to deal with the fire hazards put him at risk of harm.
3. Mr Y wants the Authority to take enforcement action to remove the fire hazards.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr Y.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Authority carried out four visits to the site and consulted each time with Mr Y. The Authority decided the threshold was not met for regulatory enforcement.
8. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
9. The Authority considered the concerns Mr Y shared with it and carried out assessments on site. We will not investigate this complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Authority made its decision to justify us investigating.
10. As part of its complaint response, the Authority accepted fault in its complaint handling and in providing inaccurate information during one of its site visits. The Authority apologised for both and acted on this learning.
11. We could not add to the findings that the Authority had already made through its own investigation. In any case we could not direct the Authority to take enforcement action.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating, and we could not add to the investigation the Authority has already carried out.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman