Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the actions taken by the Council after she reported an incident in a park. Further investigation would achieve nothing more.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly investigate and address safety concerns in a local park. As a result, Ms X says she is now scared to go in the park.
2. Ms X is also unhappy with how the Council handled her complaint and says her concerns were not properly addressed.
3. She would like the Council to investigate the park’s safety, provide staff training and pay her compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X was subject to an attack in a park. The matter was reported to the Police to investigate. The Council provided the Police with the details of the third party company (Company B) who managed the park to ensure any witnesses could be contacted.
8. Ms X complained to the Council. She said it had absolved itself of its responsibility when it passed Company B’s details to the Police. She also said the park remained unsafe and Company B had failed to record the incident.
9. The Council replied and said it had no power to investigate criminal matters which was why it had passed Company B’s details to the Police. It explained what safety measures were in place in the park and what steps it had taken to ensure Company B recorded such incidents in the future.
10. Any investigation by us would be unlikely to achieve anything further. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
11. We will also not investigate how the Council handled Ms X’s complaint. That is because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because further investigation would be unlikely to achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman