Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to pay the complainant £30 for helping his ex-partner move house. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has refused to pay him £30 for helping his former partner move home. He is also unhappy with the way a social worker has treated him.

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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:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, 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’s former partner moved home. A family member had agreed to borrow a van. The Council had agreed to pay the relative up to £30 for the cost. This arrangement fell through. Mr X stepped in to help and arranged a van. Mr X helped with the move.
5. Mr X asked the Council for the £30. The Council said it had not made any agreement with Mr X and had not agreed to pay him any money. However, the Council paid Mr X £10.58 for the petrol.
6. Mr X complained about the Council not giving him £30. He also complained about a social worker involved in the case. He said she had wrongly accused him of being aggressive and had wrongly said he was not allowed contact with his child. In response, the Council confirmed it would not give him £30. It apologised for the poor service Mr X felt he had received. It said there was no suggestion Mr X is not allowed to contact his child but said the social worker had raised concerns about Mr X’s conduct with the mother. It also said the social worker had been advised to stop replying to Mr X’s messages because, in the Council’s view, they were aggressive. Mr X denies being aggressive.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice. There is nothing to suggest the Council had made an agreement to pay any money to Mr X so no suggestion of fault in its decision not to pay him £30. Despite this the Council did reimburse his petrol costs. The Council also apologised because Mr X thought he had been badly treated.
8. Mr X thinks he should be given £30 which is the amount he believes the Council had agreed to pay to someone else. But, Mr X has received £10 and a dispute over less than £20 des not represent a level of injustice which requires an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman