The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s response to her report about an incident involving another patron at a leisure facility. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating.
The complaint
Miss X reported an incident involving another patron at one of its leisure facilities, where she said she felt threatened. Miss X was unhappy because she felt unsupported after the incident and believed the Council should have taken different action in response. Miss X said the Council’s actions caused her distress and now wants compensation.
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 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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X reported an incident involving another patron at a leisure facility, run on behalf of the Council. The management at the facility, replied to her concerns and explained how facility staff had responded. This included them giving the patron a warning. It also outlined a mediation proposal and said it would not take any action beyond that.
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint, because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable. Miss X has had a response about the actions taken in response to her concerns and while Miss X may disagree with the action taken, we could not direct the Council to take any other action. Neither could we direct the Council to award Miss X compensation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman