Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failure to provide privacy in leisure centre changing rooms. This is because Mr X has not suffered a significant enough personal injustice to warrant investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to provide him with privacy in the leisure centre changing rooms. He says this has made him uncomfortable using them.

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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 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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council has failed to ensure his privacy when using the changing facilities. He says on a number of occasions he has encountered a female teacher assisting school children after the allocated time for school use. He says this has caused him embarrassment and cautiousness whilst using the changing rooms to ensure privacy.
6. The situation is only occurring irregularly, for a short duration during the leisure centre’s opening hours. While it is clear Mr X feels aggrieved by the situation, and may need to take steps to protect his modesty, the situation he describes does not cause him a significant enough personal injustice to justify our further involvement.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered a significant enough personal injustice to warrant us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman