Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (22 003 747)
Category : Other Categories > Leisure and culture
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Jun 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about comments made to the complainant by the instructor of a weight management programme. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The Council has taken appropriate action in response to the complaint, and any outstanding injustice is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, says the instructor at a weight management programme made demeaning and horrible comments towards her, which made her feel fat, useless and emotionally distraught.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 an investigation if we decide:
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
- the Council has already taken satisfactory action in response to the complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6) & (7))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X, and our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In responding to the complaint, the Council spoke to the officers involved with the programme. They gave assurances that any comments made were not meant in the way Mrs X had received them, and they apologised for any offence caused. The Council says the team was also reminded how language can be perceived by others, and apologised for the negative and disappointing experience she had had with the service.
- With reference to paragraph 2 above, the Council has taken satisfactory action in response to the complaint, and the level of any residual injustice is not so significant as to warrant the Ombudsman pursuing the matter further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has taken appropriate action in response to the complaint, and any outstanding injustice is not significant enough to justify our continued involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman