London Borough of Lewisham (23 003 398)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Ms X’s queries concerning its decision to allow a mobile phone mast to be sited close to her home. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council has not answered the reasonable questions she has put to it in relation to its decision to allow a mobile phone mast to be sited close to her home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
- We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X, including the Council’s response to her complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Unhappy with the decision to allow the siting of a mobile phone mast close to her home, Ms X sought to better understand the Council’s decision and posed a number of questions relating to it.
- The Council responded to the points raised by Ms X and directed her to online sites where she could read further on the matter.
- We do not investigate every complaint we receive and while I understand Ms X may not be satisfied with the response she received, the Council addressed the points she raised and directed her to further sources of information. I see no grounds which warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman