Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about disruption caused by a Council construction site. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation and we would not add to the response already made by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about a Council-owned construction site causing disruption near to a property he owns. He has complained to the Council and is not satisfied with its response or actions. Mr X has asked for pre-warning of future building works and says the Council will not provide this.

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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 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X owns a property close to a Council-owned construction site, which he operates as a holiday let. He says disruption from a Council-owned construction site has affected his business. He has asked the Council to provide information to him about the works in specific formats to enable him to mitigate the disruption.
6. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council has detailed actions to lessen the impact of the works to local residents. The Council has also set out where Mr X can find more information about the construction. Mr X is not satisfied with the Council’s response.
7. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify an investigation. The correspondence shows that the Council gave reasonable and proportionate responses to each of Mr X’s questions. He is not satisfied with the responses, but that does not mean they amount to fault. Investigation by the Ombudsman would not add anything significant to the response the Council has already made and is not therefore warranted.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault and we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman