The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council not doing enough to provide adequate Wi-Fi network at a large public event. It is unlikely we would find fault and otherwise there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve.
The complaint
Miss X said the Council should have done more to ensure there was adequate Wi-Fi network available, to support her business, as a street trader at a large public event. Miss X now wants the Council to take steps to ensure the same issues do not happen again and provide compensation for lost revenue.
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 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 Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained to the Council because she experienced Wi-Fi connectivity issues during a large public event. Miss X said she lost revenue because she could not operate her business as a street trader. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaints and told her what it was doing to support street traders at future events.
Given the Council’s explanations here, it is unlikely we would find any fault and we therefore will not investigate this matter.
In any case, the Council have already addressed Miss X’s complaints in so far as they will impact on future events and we cannot decide liability for claims of compensation, only the courts can. Because of these considerations, there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve for Miss X by investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman