Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a community asset transfer. The claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council lacked transparency and public oversight in its decision to fund a charity.
2. Mr X said his Council tax increased because of funds given to the charity.

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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), 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 read a newspaper article about a plan to transfer ownership of a Council building to a local charity. He complained to the Council and said it had not consulted the public over the transfer. He also raised a conflict of interest concern due to a Councillor’s involvement with the charity.
7. In its response to Mr X the Council said the matters were ongoing and explained how it had removed any potential conflict of interest issues in line with its standards for Councillor conduct. It said it could discuss a building transfer with the charity at the start of the process without public oversight or the need for consultation. . It confirmed the charity would not receive funding from the Council beyond its community grants scheme and that details of the scheme were publicly available for transparency.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means 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. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. I acknowledge the concerns Mr X brought to us about an increase of Council tax due to the Council’s funding the charity. However, I do not consider this has caused him a significant personal injustice to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
10. In any event, Council tax payments are for all residents in a Council’s constituency. We were set up to investigate an individual’s complaint of personal injustice so we cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman