Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to remove some Black Lives Matter graffiti. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has not removed some Black Lives Matter (BLM) graffiti from a park. He wants the Council to remove the graffiti.

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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 looked at a photograph of the graffiti. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mr X complained to the Council that it had not removed some graffiti that had been in the park for six weeks. Mr X sent a photograph which showed ‘BLM’ had been painted on a wall.
5. In reply the Council explained there were a few places in the borough which had BLM graffiti and it had decided to delay removal because it is a topical issue of national and international importance. It said the rallies that had taken place throughout the borough showed the level of support for BLM and it had decided to delay removal to maintain stability and support community cohesion. It said it will monitor the graffiti and remove it when removal will not feed into existing tensions. It said it will consider adding information to its website about its approach to removing sensitive messaging.
6. The current position is that the Council is still monitoring the graffiti and has not set a date for removal.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. This is not a case where the Council has overlooked removal. Instead it has decided to delay removal because it recognises the importance of the BLM movement and has decided to take a sensitive approach. I appreciate Mr X may disagree, and think the Council should immediately remove all graffiti, but it is not for the Ombudsman to tell a council what approach to take to issues which are so important to many local people. In addition, the Council has told Mr X it will remove the graffiti when the time is right and it is considering adding information to its website so people can understand its approach to sensitive graffiti.
8. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. Mr X says the graffiti is an eyesore and, generally, graffiti is regarded as undesirable. But, this is three letters sprayed on a wall which Mr X only sees when he visits the park. I appreciate Mr X wants it removed but it does not represent a level of injustice which requires an investigation.

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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