The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council misleading the Ombudsman during a previous investigation. This is because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X and Mrs X complain the Council misled the Ombudsman during a previous investigation. They say in our previous investigation, the Council told us they had put in place a robust process to ensure their correspondence is monitored and responded to. They say the Council failed to respond to any of their recent correspondence when they raised a concern regarding invoices.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We previously investigated a complaint by Mr X and Mrs X, related to their son Mr A. During that investigation, the Council told us it had put in place robust processes to ensure correspondence from Mr X and Mrs X are monitored and responded to.
Mr X and Mrs X say the Council mislead the Ombudsman as it failed to respond to correspondence they sent in January and February 2022.
The Council acknowledged in its complaint response that in future, all correspondence will be brought to the attention of all involved in supporting Mr A. This will ensure Mr X and Mrs X receive full responses. The Council also apologised for the difficulties.
I will not investigate this complaint as it will not lead to a different outcome. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council for intentionally misleading us and because the Council has already acknowledged it failed to fully respond and remedied this appropriately by apologising.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X and Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman