Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to consider a report he prepared as there is no evidence of fault or of significant injustice to Mr X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to properly consider a report he prepared. He believes that as a council tax payer the Council had a duty to consider his report, which he suggests could have influenced council policy under consideration at the time of his submission.

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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 and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Members of the public may submit documents to their local councils to consider as they wish. But this does not mean the council must consider them in detail and provide responses as Mr X suggests.
5. The Council was in the process of deciding a new policy but it was not Mr X’s aim to influence this. The Council’s consultation on the new policy was not public but aimed at internal consultees and a local external body with expertise in the field. There was no requirement for the Council to carry out public consultation and there is no suggestion the Council failed to consider its consultation responses or that it was at fault in the way it decided the new policy.
6. The matter also does not cause Mr X significant injustice. Mr X carried out his research and completed his report because of his own interest and curiosity; the Council did not ask him to spend time doing this or guarantee that it would consider the report. Mr X also confirms that presenting his report to the Council while it was in the process of deciding a new policy was entirely coincidental and that it was not his aim to influence the process.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• There is no evidence of fault by the Council in the creation of its new policy;
• The Council’s actions did not cause Mr X significant injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman