2. What is a decision statement?

2.1 In cases where we do not issue a report, our final decision is communicated in a decision statement. The Local Government Act 1974 explains our power to issue reports for Part 3 bodies (s30) and to issue written statements for decisions concerning Part 3A bodies (s34H).

2.2 The Act (s30) also explains that, for part 3 complaints, if we decide not to issue a report, we can issue a “statement of our reasons”.

2.3 In the past we have used the term ‘SOR’ but we now use the term ‘decision statement’ to cover both Part 3 ‘statement of reasons’ and Part 3A ‘written statements’. This is because it is plainer English

2.4 In most cases at investigation stage, a final decision statement will have been preceded by a draft decision statement. Comments made by the complainant and the Body in Jurisdiction (BinJ) will have been taken into account and, where appropriate, incorporated into the final decision statement. The decision statement will be sent with a covering letter. The covering letter is not part of the decision statement, which is a stand-alone document. Investigators can include extra detail or commentary in covering letters if it is not needed for the final decision, or where they wish to include other information or express sympathy for the complainant due to the circumstances of the complaint.