Plymouth City Council (19 020 585)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about wet paint on a bench damaging his clothes. This is because the Council has now agreed to pay for the damage and so an investigation by the Ombudsman could not achieve anything more.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, says wet paint on a bench damaged his clothes. Mr X says the Council failed to display signs warning the paint was wet, and it should therefore pay for the damage.
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 it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X complained to the Council wet paint on a bench damaged his clothes. Mr X complained the Council failed to display signs warning the paint was wet, and it should therefore pay for the damage.
- Mr X complained to the Ombudsman because the Council delayed in responding to his claim. But he says the Council has now agreed to pay for the damage. An investigation by the Ombudsman is not therefore appropriate because we could not achieve anything more for Mr X.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because an investigation by the Ombudsman could not achieve anything more for Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman