The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the way a Council officer manoeuvred his car. This is because the matter has not caused Mr X a significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complained to the Council about the way a Council officer manoeuvred his car, when it mounted the pavement whilst reversing.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) We do not start an investigation if we decide: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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
Mr X complained to the Council about the way a Council officer carried out a manoeuvre whilst driving. Mr X says the car mounted the pavement whilst reversing and he needed to move out of the way of the car. He says a less able person might have made contact with the car. The car scraped along the pavement which Mr X says must have damaged the car.
The Council, in its complaint response, said there was no sign of damage to the vehicle. It has reminded the officer of the need to take care when manoeuvring.
Mr X says the Council did not fully investigate his complaint. He had to remind the Council to respond and it did not answer his questions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the matter complained about has not caused Mr X a significant personal injustice which is serious enough to warrant an investigation. Whilst Mr X also complains about how the Council responded to his complaint we will not investigate complaint handling issues where we are not considering the substantive matter. It is not a good use of limited public resources for us to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman