Summary: Ms X complains the Authority has failed to carry out a transparent and open consultation on major road and transport changes where she lives. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as we do not consider Ms X has suffered a significant personal injustice because of the Authority’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains she cannot get answers from the Authority to enable her to understand its proposals for changes to roads and transport services where she lives. She says the stress of dealing with this has affected her health. And it has compromised her retirement because she feels responsible for making the Authority to listen to residents.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Ms X, including the authorities responses to her.

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What I found

4. Mrs X is the spokesperson for an action group which has concerns about a transport plan. Construction is due to start on the planned changes in 2020.
5. From the information provided it is obvious that Mrs X and the group have been active in the consultation phase.
6. However, Mrs X says she is not complaining for the action group, but as private individual. However, the information she has provided to support her complaint is correspondence on behalf of the action group. She says the Authority’s failure to carry out a meaningful consultation has forced her to act as spokesperson for those in her community who are less able to deal with such matters. I disagree, I Ms X chose to take an active part in the consultation on proposed changes to the area where she lives.
7. The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe that the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the service provider.
8. This means that 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 by the service provider.
9. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the complainant is using their enquiry as a way of raising a wider political or community campaign.

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Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint because we do not consider that she has suffered a significant personal injustice as a direct result of the alleged failure of the authority to carry out a satisfactory consultation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman