Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Authority’s decision to not remove graffiti on one of its buildings. This is because it does not cause sufficient injustice to Mr X to justify our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Authority has refused to remove the graffiti on one of its buildings. He says it makes the local area look uncared for and that he has to live in a filthy environment. Mr X would like the Authority to remove the graffiti.

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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 or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. In its complaint response to Mr X, the Authority stated that it would only remove graffiti if it was offensive. The Authority assessed the graffiti and decided that it wasn’t offensive and therefore refused to remove it.
6. Our Assessment Code states we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of Council fault, or there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower level injustice that remain unresolved over a longer period of time.
7. While I understand Mr X finds the graffiti offensive and has strong feelings about the matter, he can choose to avoid the area if he wishes. The graffiti does not cause him a significant personal injustice, so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman