The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the behaviour of an enforcement agent when she spoke with them over the phone. She says the agent swore at her. This is because an investigation would not lead to any different findings or outcomes.
The complaint
Miss X complains about the behaviour of an enforcement agent when she spoke with them over the phone. She says the agent swore at her.
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 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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says she received a text message from the Council’s enforcement agents containing a contact number and asking her to contact them. When she called the number, she said the enforcement agent swore at her.
During its investigation, the Council said it had made enquiries with its enforcement agent, who confirmed it had no record of having sent her a text message. The enforcement agent provided the Council with examples of their text message templates and the Council noted the messages Miss X received are different to these templates. The enforcement agent also confirmed they only sent out text messages on a weekday. The Council noted Miss X had received her text message on a weekend.
The Council accepted Miss X had provided evidence that something had happened. However, the Council confirmed it was satisfied the text message she received was not from its enforcement agent and that it was possible the text message received was a scam message.
It is accepted Miss X has evidence she had spoken to someone she believed to be an enforcement agent instructed by the Council. However, there is conflicting evidence which suggests otherwise. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as we are not likely to reach any different findings or outcomes.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to any different findings or outcomes.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman