The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an incident involving her young child that took place at a local water feature. This is because an investigation would not lead to anything worthwhile for Mrs X.
The complaint
Mrs X complained her child was injured whilst playing near a local water feature. She said the Council failed to acknowledge the incident occurred and did not take steps to prevent it happening again.
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 Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained that her young child was injured whilst playing at a local water feature. She said the operators noticed what happened and turned the feature off but failed to help.
The Council investigated and could find no records of the incident as it was not reported at the time and its CCTV records had been deleted. The Council did not uphold Mrs X’s complaint and said it could not have prevented what happened.
Mrs X remains unhappy with the Council’s response and wants us to find the Council at fault. There is no evidence that confirms what took place and even if there was, it would be difficult to establish who is at fault. The Ombudsman will only conduct investigations where it is likely that we can provide an outcome that will make a difference. As it stands, an investigation would not achieve anything worthwhile for Mrs X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to provide anything worthwhile for Mrs X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman