Summary: Mr X complains a council officer traumatised his 4-year-old daughter when he refused to allow her to take colouring paper from the library. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as we do not consider there is a significant personal injustice which warrants our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that a council officer assaulted his daughter with the words and actions he used when he refused to allow her to take more that 2 sheets of colouring paper from the library. He wants the Council to apologise and assess his daughter for counselling due to the trauma the incident caused.

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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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s responses. Mr X had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says he attended the library with his 4-year-old daughter. He says when she tried to take more than 2 sheets of colouring paper home the officer snatched the folder from her, saying “that’s enough”. He says made his daughter cry and she is now too frightened to visit the library and no longer likes to draw.
5. The Council says the officer recalls that he took the folder from the child after she had taken 2 sheets of paper, saying “that’s enough now”. He denies being aggressive and suggests the child only began to cry after Mr X raised his voice and accused the officer of being rude. The Council says library staff have discussed the amount of colouring paper permitted to be taken home with Mr X in the past.

Assessment

6. The Ombudsman is publicly funded and must use his funds carefully. This means will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the service provider. We will normally only investigate where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the service provider.
7. I understand Mr X is complaining for his young daughter, and that she was upset by the incident. However, I do not consider that this is a significant personal injustice which warrants the expense of an Ombudsman investigation.
8. Also, Mr X suggests the officer assaulted his daughter. This is an allegation of a criminal act which is a matter for the Police, not the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because I do not consider that Mr X or his daughter have suffered a significant personal injustice. Concerns that a crime may have been committed should be addressed to the Police.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman