Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to change the way it charges for music lessons. There is insufficient evidence of fault on the Council’s part to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council made an unreasonable decision to change the way it charges for music lessons, and that its response to his representations about the decision lacked compassion.

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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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X’s complaint concerns the Council’s decision to change the way it charges for music lessons from monthly to termly. Mr X complains that the decision has caused foreseeable hardship and was made without consultation. He asked the Council to consider alternative payment schedules and complains that its responses lacked compassion.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault on the Council’s part. Councils are not required to consult on every decision they make. Neither are they required to avoid detriment to service users when making decisions. The record of this decision shows that it was taken at a senior level and there is no evidence of fault in the way it was made. That being the case, the Ombudsman cannot criticise it, or intervene to substitute an alternative view.
7. Mr X argues that the Council responded without compassion to his request for alternative payment arrangements. Compassion, in these circumstances, is subjective. The correspondence Mr X has provided demonstrates that the Council responded clearly and without any obvious discourtesy. There is nothing demonstrably flawed in the Council’s responses and, that being the case, no grounds for the Ombudsman to intervene.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman