The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to an incident involving Ms X. This is because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council did not do enough to address an incident that took place at one of its leisure centres.
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 Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to the Council after an incident involving two staff members at a leisure centre left her feeling anxious and upset.
The Council apologised and told Ms X it was considering making changes to reduce the likelihood of the incident happening again. It also offered Ms X a free three-month membership.
Ms X remains unhappy with the situation and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Ombudsman does not take punitive measures against councils and will not investigate cases where the council has already responded appropriately. In this case the Council has investigated, conceded fault, apologised and taken proportionate measures to put things right. This is what we would expect the Council to do. An investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome for Ms X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman