The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to issue refunds for two transport SaverCards the complainant no longer needs. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council or significant personal injustice to the complainant.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, purchased two SaverCards to enable her children to travel to school at a reduced cost. Mrs X no longer needs the cards as the operator withdrew the service her children were due to travel on. The Council has refused Mrs X’s request for a refund. It says this decision is in line with its published policy and has referred to the cost of administering the scheme. Mrs X is unhappy with this decision.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(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.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The Council says its decision is in line with its published policy and that is a position it is entitled to take. Even if there was some evidence of fault, we would not investigate. The cost of two SaverCards is £40. While I understand Mrs X’s frustrations, this does not represent a personal injustice which is significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman