Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (25 015 362)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Mar 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action after he reported trader misconduct. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council did not take enforcement action against a trader, which he said sold him a faulty motor vehicle. Mr X also raised other concerns about the trader.
- Mr X said the matters caused him distress.
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 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained the Council failed to take enforcement action against a trader. He said the trader made various misrepresentations when it sold him a motor vehicle, which was faulty.
- In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council explained the actions it had taken in response to Mr X’s concerns.
- The Council said it had considered each point raised by Mr X in depth.
- Where it had not taken the action Mr X desired, the Council explained its reasons for this. This included there being insufficient evidence to prove offences or thresholds not being met for further investigation.
- We will not investigate this complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement. The Council has provided a detailed explanation of actions it took in response to Mr X’s reports. The Ombudsman could not direct the Council to do anything further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman