Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms A’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to issue her with a Concessionary Travel Pass. This is because the Council has apologised, issued a pass and given Ms A £50 for the time and trouble she has encountered pursuing her complaint. There is no unremedied injustice warranting an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Ms A complained that she should have been entitled to an adult Concessionary Travel Pass (CTP) when she first applied for one as she meets the criteria.

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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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Ms A and the Council provided. I sent Ms A a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

4. Ms A was unhappy with the Council’s decision to refuse her a CTP and its response to her complaint and asked the Ombudsman to consider it.
5. The Council reconsidered Ms A’s case and said due to a computer error she had been refused a pass. The Council advised Ms A it has now fixed the error, issued the pass, apologised and offered her £50 for the time and trouble she has incurred in pursuing her complaint.
6. The Ombudsman is satisfied this remedies the injustice caused to Ms A from the Council’s failure to issue a pass when she first applied.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no unremedied injustice warranting further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman