Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a visit by Council officers to her home and difficulties she faced when raising her complaint. It is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or reach a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained officers who visited her home lied about the reason for their visit and did not wear person protective equipment. She says she rang the Council to register a complaint about the matter, but the Council did not respond and repeatedly directed her to its online system, which she could not use.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response, the Council apologised for any distress caused by the officers’ visit. It said the officers had reflected on her complaint to learn from her experience. It said officers were no longer required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when visiting people at home, but it had updated its records to reflect her wishes. It said officers would bring PPE with them on any future visits.
6. It accepted Ms X had phoned the complaints team and left a voicemail, but the team had not responded to this. It apologised to Ms X for this and for the inconvenience caused. It said it had shared the issues she raised with the team to learn from her complaint and improve its complaints handling and customer service.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately considered and responded to the matters she raised. It has apologised to her for any distress and inconvenience caused and told her what action it had taken to improve its service to her and others going forward. It is unlikely an investigation by us would add to this or lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman