Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X's complaint because it concerns the Council's actions in relation to an individual employee and actions taken by, or on behalf of, the Council in its capacity as a registered social landlord. These matters are outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the conduct of a contractor working on behalf of the Council. He says the contractor verbally abused him while carrying out work at the block where he lives. Mr X says the Council did not deal with his concerns properly through its complaints process and instead treated the matter as an internal personnel issue. He remains dissatisfied because he believes the individual should not be working in a public-facing role and wants the Council to take disciplinary action against them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X is a council tenant. His complaint concerns the conduct of a contractor carrying out work on behalf of the Council at the block where he lives. The contractor was acting on behalf of the Council in its capacity as a social housing landlord.
8. In response to Mr X's complaint about the employee's conduct, the Council explained that it was dealing with the matter through its internal personnel procedures. It said it could not share details of the outcome because of data protection laws. However, it confirmed the employee would no longer be assigned to work at Mr X's block.
9. The Council upheld Mr X's complaint about its complaint handling, apologised for the delay in responding to his complaint, and offered him £100. It also advised Mr X to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service if he remained dissatisfied.
10. We cannot investigate this complaint because it concerns the Council's management of social housing while acting as a landlord. If Mr X remains dissatisfied with the Council's response, he should complain to the Housing Ombudsman Service, which deals with complaints about Councils when they are acting in their capacity as social housing landlords.
11. In addition, we cannot investigate complaints about individual employees or the Council's management of its staff. We cannot direct the Council to discipline an employee or require it to disclose the outcome of any disciplinary or HR process to Mr X.

Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman