Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a meeting the Council held with his mother, Mrs Y. That is because any injustice caused is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about a meeting the Council arranged with his mother, Mrs Y. He said the Council knew that he was handling all correspondence on behalf of his mother. He said the Council held the meeting without notifying him and that it caused his mother distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
6. We will not investigate this complaint further. Firstly, I do not consider the stress caused to Mrs Y by the Council has caused significant enough injustice to justify our involvement.
7. Secondly, I have reviewed the Council’s complaint response to Mr X that outlines the reasons for meeting with Mrs Y. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our further involvement.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman