The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s liability for an incident involving Mrs X at a leisure facility. This is because Mrs X has an alternative legal remedy through the courts, and it would be reasonable to expect her to use this alternative remedy.
The complaint
Mrs X told us she suffered a serious personal injury because of poor health and safety practices at a leisure facility, run on behalf of the Council. Mrs X was also dissatisfied at how the Council investigated her concerns about this, including how the facility currently operates, believing this means there is a likelihood of another incident occurring.
Mrs X said she is seeking accountability and compensation for her injury.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X said the incident she was involved in could have been prevented and believed the leisure facility failed in its duty of care to her, including advice and treatment it gave her following the incident.
We will not investigate this complaint. We cannot determine liability for personal injury and nor can we award compensation. These are legal claims, and the courts are a more appropriate arena to consider this and decide.
Given the circumstances of Mrs X’s complaint about liability for her injury, including the extent of the personal injury she has described, it would be reasonable to expect her to use this alternative legal remedy to resolve her claim.
Nor will we investigate how the Council responded to her complaint, including its investigation. This is because we do not consider complaints about these matters, where we are not looking at the substantive issue, because it is not a good use of our resources.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has an alternative legal remedy and because only a court can decide liability and award compensation, it is reasonable to expect her to use this alternative remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman