Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to notify him of the date of a public meeting. This is because there is insufficient injustice to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to notify him of the date of a Council meeting at which his submitted public question would be heard. He said this meant he could not attend the meeting or ask any follow up questions.
2. Mr X wanted the Council to:
• acknowledge its failure to provide notice;
• review its internal processes; and
• arrange for his question to be re-read at a future meeting and ensure he is given notice and allowed to ask a supplementary question.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X’s question was read at a Council meeting, and a full response was given. Although Mr X was not in attendance at the meeting, the notes have been published and can be accessed by the public.
7. We will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe that the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the service provider. This means that we will normally only investigate a complaint where:
• the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the service provider, or
• there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower-level injustice that remain unresolved over a long period of time.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not sufficient injustice to justify our involvement. Mr X’s question was responded to and, even if he had attended the meeting, there is no guarantee that he would have gained a fuller response than what was issued.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman