Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about errors the Council made in relation to a reference number. This is because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council keeps making the same errors and does not provide effective training.

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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 an investigation if we believe:

• the Council has provided a fair remedy; or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mr X called the Council to ask why he had not received a reply to an email. In response an officer said Mr X had used the wrong reference number. Mr X re-sent the email using the reference provided by the officer. But, he was then told that that reference was wrong.
5. Mr X complained about being mis-led. The Council apologised and said staff made an error because there are two different reference numbers associated with the property; one for Mr X’s sister and one for his mother. The Council explained there is usually one reference number linked to a property and the presence of two references had caused the errors. The Council agreed the error should not happen and said it is committed to staff training. The Council said it had explained the error to the officer.
6. Mr X is dissatisfied with the response. He says the error has happened before which shows a lack of training.

Assessment

7. I appreciate the errors are frustrating and mean Mr X has had to spend more time liaising with the Council than would otherwise be the case. However, while the Council has made mistakes, I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
8. The Council has apologised, explained why the errors have occurred and that it has spoken to staff to try to stop the same thing happening again. This is a fair response.
9. In addition, there is not enough injustice to require an investigation. Although Mr X feels aggrieved and has been inconvenienced, there is nothing to suggest the error has had any other impact. There is no evidence Mr X has suffered a financial loss and the issue has been resolved. I am aware the error has happened before, and could happen again, but Mr X could perhaps assist the Council by pointing out to staff that there are two reference numbers for the property.

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Final decision

10. I will not start an investigation because the Council has provided a fair response and there is not enough remaining injustice to require an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman