The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about events that led to him being banned from a leisure centre. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
Mr X complains that he was unfairly treated by staff at a leisure centre and that this led to him being banned. Mr X also complains about how his complaints about these matters were dealt with.
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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s leisure centre received concerns regarding Mr X’s behaviour from other members. Management met with Mr X to discuss the concerns. The manager subsequently reviewed CCTV footage and a record of who attended the leisure centre to satisfy itself that Mr X was in attendance at the time of one of the allegations. The leisure centre reminded Mr X of its behaviour policy.
A member of staff subsequently reported further similar concerns about Mr X’s behaviour. Mr X was subsequently banned from the leisure centre.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. I am satisfied that management at the leisure centre considered relevant information before warning Mr X about his behaviour and before implementing the ban and did so in line with its policy.
It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman