The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a misleading statement on the Council’s website. This is because the alleged fault has not caused Mr X a significant personal injustice which would justify an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has published a misleading statement on its website about the decision to introduce parking charges at the Stadium of Light football stadium.
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 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 the Council placed an incorrect and misleading statement on its website about the introduction of parking charges at the Stadium of Light football stadium. Mr X was not complaining about the decision to apply charges, but about the Council’s statement on the reason for introducing charges which he says is misleading.
The Council told Mr X it would not consider his complaint via the complaints procedure. This is because the decision to introduce parking charges is still at consultation stage and because it does not agree with Mr X’s view that its statement is misleading.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the alleged fault has not caused Mr X a significant personal injustice which would justify an investigation by this office. We have limited resources and must focus on investigating complaints where a person has suffered a significant personal injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman