Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council responded to a complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot obtain the outcome the complainant would like.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council responded to a complaint. He does not accept that calls are not recorded and says the Council did not investigate his complaint. Mr X wants the Council to have a clear policy on ending calls and for staff to be disciplined.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about a phone call. Mr X complained about what the officer said and complained the officer was aggressive, ranting and displaying an abuse of power. Mr X said the officer made a false allegation that Mr X swore and the officer terminated the call. Mr X wanted an immediate response to his complaint and a face to face meeting with a manager.
6. The Council found out the call was not recorded so could not listen to it. The Council spoke to the officer about the call; the officer said he terminated the call because Mr X was rude.
7. The Council told Mr X the call was not recorded but said it had spoken to the officer. The Council apologised if the call was not to the standard Mr X expected.
8. Mr X was dissatisfied with the response. He did not accept the call was not recorded and said the Council had not properly addressed his concerns. He repeated that the officer made a false allegation and operated outside the policy for ending calls.
9. In response the Council confirmed the call was not recorded and there is no message on the line to say that calls are recorded. It explained that officers can end a call if they think it is necessary. The Council said an apology had been offered and it could not investigate the matter further.
10. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Mr X says the officer behaved inappropriately and incorrectly accused Mr X of swearing; the officer says he ended the call because Mr X was rude. I cannot comment on what happened, or say which version of events is correct, because there is no call recording. On that basis I cannot say there has been fault by the Council.
11. The Council responded appropriately by speaking to the officer, establishing there is no recording, and apologising to Mr X. There is a policy which allows staff to end calls, after a warning, if they find that someone is behaving inappropriately. Again, I cannot comment on whether the officer gave a warning because I cannot listen to the call. In response to the complaint, the Council could have commented in greater depth to explain why the officer ended the call, and made reference to the policy, but this does not amount to fault which requires an investigation.
12. I also will not start an investigation because we cannot obtain the outcome the complainant would like. The Council already has a policy which explains when staff can terminate calls and we cannot ask for anyone to be disciplined because we have no power to intervene in personnel issues.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X would like.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman