The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms Z’s complaint about the Council’s design process for a leisure facility. This is because it is unlikely our involvement could achieve anything more than the Council’s response and we could not achieve the outcome Ms Z wants.
The complaint
Ms Z complains the Council’s design process for a new leisure facility did not consider the needs of disabled children, in line with its Equality Act duties. She says her child, who has special educational needs, is excluded from safely using the facility. Ms Z wants the Council to install a fence at this and similar facilities, and to carry out Equality Impact Assessments at the design stage for such facilities.
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: 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 Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In its complaint response, the Council said it did not complete an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for the leisure facility. It said it had considered whether to install a fence at the design stage and that it reviewed available play safety guidance as part of its decision making. It decided not to install a fence and said it did not consider its decision to be unlawful or discriminatory because it needed to balance safety, inclusivity, visibility and access considerations.
The Council said it would carry out a post-installation accessibility review for the facility, which would consider Ms Z’s comments. It confirmed it would consider any recommendations from the review, including about fencing. The Council’s Parks Team also agreed to introduce EIAs during its design process for individual schemes in future.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Ombudsman could not require the Council to install a fence as Ms Z has requested. The most we could achieve is to ask the Council to review its decision. It has already agreed to this by completing an accessibility review, and its Parks Team has committed to introduce EIAs going forward. It is unlikely we could achieve anything more than this so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms Z’s complaint because it is unlikely our involvement could achieve anything more than the Council’s response and we could not achieve the outcome Ms Z wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman