The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about poor communication. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complains about poor communication in 2023 and 2025, which she says caused her distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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 Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained about poor communication in 2023. I will not investigate these matters. This complaint is late and there is no good reason to investigate it now.
Miss X complained about poor communication in 2025. She said she felt intimidated into agreeing to a debt repayment arrangement and the staff member was irate with her.
The Council said it did not have call recordings so could not corroborate or investigate further. It did review email correspondence and decided it was in line with its expectations. The Council also offered to change Miss X’s caseworker.
I will not investigate this complaint. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by an organisation.
While I recognise that Miss X found the situation distressing, I do not consider the injustice is significant enough to warrant further investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman