The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about problems with the lights at tennis courts operated by the Council. This is because the personal injustice to the complainant is not significant enough. It is also unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, says there have been problems with the lights at tennis courts operated by the Council. Mr X says there have been problems for five years. Mr X says the lights failed in April 2020 and some of the courts were without lights until November 2020. Mr X wants the Council to change the way it manages the maintenance of the lights. His suggestions include a survey, a maintenance plan, holding spare parts, and performance indicators for the Council’s maintenance company.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its response to Mr X’s complaint the Council says most of the lights are now fixed – although “one or two” are not working. It says it has taken time to find out what is causing the lights to fail. It says supply chain issues have caused problems with securing replacement parts.
As explained in paragraph 2, we expect people to complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of a problem. Mr X says there have been problems for five years, but we will only consider the issue which started in April 2020.
I understand Mr X is frustrated by the issue at the heart of his complaint. But we do not investigate all the complaints we receive. We only look at the most serious cases – those where the person complaining has been caused a significant personal injustice. I do not consider that to be the case here and so we will not start an investigation.
Even if we were to investigate, it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response. It has explained why it has taken so long to repair the lights and says most of them are now working. It is not for us to say how the Council should manage its facilities and so we could not recommend the changes Mr X would like to see.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not been caused a significant personal injustice. It is also unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman