The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Council officer’s conduct. We could not add to the Council’s investigation or achieve what Mr X wants.
The complaint
Mr X complains about a Council officer’s conduct. He says the officer was rude, made false allegations, humiliated him, lacked professional judgement and refused to provide him with requested information. He wants the Council to compensate him for the distress caused.
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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its complaint response, the Council set out how it had investigated his complaint. It explained how it had spoken with the officer concerned and consulted relevant records. It responded in turn to each point Mr X raised, but did not uphold his complaint.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately considered and responded to Mr X’s concerns. It is unlikely an investigation by us could add to the Council’s response or achieve the compensation Mr X wants.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s investigation or achieve what Mr X wants.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman