Royal Borough of Greenwich (25 020 905)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of concerns about a market. This is because the complaint is not about an administrative function of the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council did not properly handle his concerns about the running of a market. He says he lost his trading position at the market and the Council has ignored his concerns. Mr X also complains about how the Council has handled his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 a council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
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 says he was treated poorly as a vendor and also had concerns about the running of the market. Mr X says he no longer has a trading position which has affected his livelihood. He says he raised his concerns with the Council and they were not dealt with.
- The market Mr X raised concerns about is run by a private company on behalf of a charitable organisation. The Council informed Mr X it was not responsible for the running of the market as part of its response to his complaint. The law prevents us from investigating the matter as the company is not carrying out an administrative function on behalf of the Council.
- Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to investigate how a Council has handled a complaint if the substantive matter does not fall to be investigated. That is the case here.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it does not concern an administrative function of the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman