Summary: Mr X complained about the attitude and rudeness of staff at his local recycling centre. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice caused by fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about rudeness of staff at a local recycling centre after he misread hand signals from a worker when he was queuing for the site.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, 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 have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response. Mr X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says he had two incidents with a member staff at his local recycling centre. He says he misread the hand signals of a worker who was directing traffic and moved his car forwards when instructed not to. The worker was rude to him as a result and Mr X made a complaint about his behaviour.
5. The Council investigated the complaint and said that the incident took place when Mr X ignored traffic hand signals and caused his car to block the road. It apologised for any rudeness from its staff and said that it was important to follow all instructions at the site to maintain public safety. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s explanation of the incident.
6. The Local Government Ombudsman is obliged by law to consider not only any fault which a complainant has alleged, but also the injustice caused to them as a direct consequence of that failure. In this case the accounts of what took place differ and there is insufficient injustice to Mr X which would warrant any further investigation.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice caused by fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman