Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council downgraded his membership at a local leisure centre. There is not enough evidence of fault or injustice to justify our involvement

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council downgraded his membership at a local leisure centre. He says that as a result his access is now restricted.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• 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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X has membership at a local leisure centre. This allows him to use the facilities at certain times of the day. An error with the computers in 2022 meant that access became unrestricted for a period. Once the Council realised the error, this was rectified.
6. We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault. Mr X has always been able to access the leisure centre at the times specified in his membership agreement. He was also able to access it at additional times for a while, but the removal of that additional benefit does not constitute an injustice.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault and there is no evidence Mr X has experienced an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman