Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about alleged false allegations following an incident in a local library. There is insufficient evidence of fault and an investigation would not achieve what Mr X wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has made false allegations about him following an incident at his local library. He says the matter has caused him distress. He wants the Council to accept the allegations are untrue and apologise to him.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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My assessment

5. Following an incident at his local library, the Council sent Mr X a letter asking him to change his behaviour and warning him that further occurrences may lead to appropriate sanctions. Mr X complained that the letter contained false allegations against him and was inconsiderate to him as a longstanding library user.
6. In its complaint response, the Council’s stated there were witnesses to the incident and although it could not state the exact words said, it maintained that his behaviour was unacceptable. It did not uphold his complaint.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has appropriately explained its position in its complaint response. There is insufficient evidence of fault and as we cannot know exactly what happened, an investigation would be unlikely to reach a different outcome or achieve what Mr X wants.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and an investigation would not achieve what Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman