The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to impose contact restrictions on her. This is because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to justify an investigation by us.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council imposed contact restrictions on her without following its own guidance or the guidance provided by us to organisations.
She said the Council did not take her disabilities into account. Miss X would like the Council to remove the restrictions.
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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s decision to put contact restrictions on her. The evidence available shows the Council followed its Policy on Unacceptable Actions by Customers and our guidance.
The Council first issued a warning to Miss X because of the nature of her communications to the Council. It then imposed restrictions on her after her unacceptable actions continued.
We also note the Council took Miss X’s disabilities into account and reviewed its restrictions. However, the Council decided that the restrictions would remain in place.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman