Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (20 006 296)
Category : Environment and regulation > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Nov 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr Q’s complaint that the Council failed to ensure it cleaned children’s play equipment in a park following the end of the Covid-19 lockdown. This is because the injustice he suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I have called Mr Q, complained that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council failed to clean children’s play equipment before opening a park following the end of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr Q provided. I considered the information the Council provided. I considered Mr Q’s comments on a draft of this decision.
What I found
What happened
- The Council closed children’s play areas during the Covid-19 lockdown. Before reopening the play areas, officers inspected them and made a list of those that needed jet washing. The Council missed off a play area from its list.
- Mr Q complained to the Council when it opened the play area. He said the children's play equipment was covered in birds’ mess. The Council jet washed the play equipment the following day.
- The Council apologised to Mr Q for any inconvenience he suffered when using the play area.
Assessment
- We will not investigate this complaint.
- Mr Q has not said he was personally affected by the dirty play equipment other than having to report it to the Council. It would have been better if this had not been necessary. However, the injustice Mr Q suffered because of this is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the injustice Mr Q suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman