Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond fully to enquiries and complaints Mr X has made about landscaping in a churchyard. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council failed to deal fully with the enquiries and complaints he made about landscaping work in a churchyard. He says he should receive a response to all the questions he has asked and an apology for its failure to do so.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My Assessment

5. Mr X’s concerns about work carried out in the churchyard of a listed church in a conservation area led him to contact the Council with a number of queries about the work and whether planning permission was required for it. The Council responded at some length to his concerns and in a reasonable and proportionate way.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman