The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the naming of a community event. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the Authority’s decision to change the name of a community event. She says the new name is discriminatory and does not represent the African community.
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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its responses to Ms X, the Authority explained that it had not simply re-named the event, but had created a new event representing the rich diversity of communities in London. It explained how it had consulted with a wide-ranging group of community advisories before deciding on the name of the event.
We will not investigate this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault. It is for the Authority to decide how to name its community event. It has explained to Ms X how it consulted with the community during the decision-making process and how the name reflects the event’s aims and objectives. We could not require the Council to change the name of the event. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation and we could not achieve what Ms X wants.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and we could not achieve what she wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman