The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about racial discrimination. It is reasonable for the complainant to take the matter to court.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Authority racially discriminated against her. She also said the Authority had banned her from its premises. She wants the Authority to apologise for its acts and retract any false statements it had made about her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended) 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.
(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 Authority.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained the Authority discriminated against her after it asked her to provide personal information before she attended a meeting. Ms X said the Authority asked for the information based on her race. In its complaint response, the Authority said it may ask for personal information for security purposes. However, Ms X does not accept this explanation. She said the Authority did not have a policy to support its request and had not previously asked for identification.
We will not investigate this complaint. That is because we cannot find the Authority has discriminated against Ms X; that can only be done by the courts. It is reasonable for Ms X to pursue a legal remedy if she believes the Authority’s actions were discriminatory.
We will also not investigate Ms X’s complaint about contact restrictions the Authority has placed upon her. In the Council’s letter to Ms X is set out the concerns that had resulted in the need for restrictions. It confirmed Ms X would have a single point of contact and the Authority would review the restrictions in 12 months. The Authority has implemented the restrictions in line with its policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to take court action if she believes the Authority has discriminated against her.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman