Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the alleged poor treatment of Mr X when he attempted to use a Council leisure centre. This is because an investigation would not result in a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that when he attempted to use a Council leisure centre toilet he was abused by the onsite staff and initially prevented from doing so.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says that after he visited a Council leisure centre to use the accessible toilet intended for disabled patrons. He explained that he is disabled to the staff and that he had used the toilets before.
6. Mr X says the leisure centre staff became abusive towards him and initially obstructed him from using the toilet before eventually allowing him in. After Mr X asked the staff for their names, he says they were again abusive towards him.
7. Mr X complained to the Council and the Council investigated by talking to the staff members involved and reviewing the CCTV footage of the event. The Council did not find evidence to support Mr X’s version of events and did not uphold his complaint.
8. Mr X remains unhappy with the situation and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Council has investigated the matter and despite reviewing CCTV footage and interviewing the staff involved, it has been unable to uncover evidence that clearly shows what happened. The Ombudsman uses public resources to fund its investigations and so it is important we investigate matters where we can be reasonably confident that we can make a difference. In this situation, there are two very different versions of events and no way to make a finding as to what happened, as the evidence that is available does not make this clear. With this in mind, an investigation would be unlikely to result in a worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would not result in a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman