Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way in which the Council makes payments for a phone line for the complainant. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms L, says that the Council is continually late in making agreed payments to BT for her phone line. This causes her anxiety as it is contrary to BT’s terms and conditions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Ms L and by the Council. I have also sent Ms L a draft decision for her comments. I have arranged for the draft to be translated in Polish.

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What I found

4. Ms L has communication difficulties, and in 1993 the Council’s social services agree to fund a phone line from BT to support her.
5. Ms L says that she believes the Council is making the payments late, as she keeps receiving reminder letters from BT. This worries her as she feels she may have to make the payments herself to avoid the line being cut off.
6. The Council has received complaints from Ms L about this matter. It has explained more than once that BT has a standard reminder letter which it sends out automatically, but that Ms L does not need to take any action if she receives it. This is because the Council has set up a payment schedule with BT, for her payments, several months in advance. No payments have been missed.
7. On one occasion, Ms L made a payment, following the reminder letter from BT. However, the Council explained that she did not need to do so, and she was reimbursed for it.
8. Although Ms L has brought her complaint to the LGSCO we will not investigate it. This is because there is no fault in the actions of the Council. It is making her payments regularly and has explained that the reminder letters are part of BT’s automated system and not an indication that payments are not being made on schedule.

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no fault in the actions of the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman