Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about an electrical wire injuring her on Council property. This is because there is not enough injustice to warrant an investigation and there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains she was injured by a loose electrical wire on the Council’s property.

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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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, 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 Miss X.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
6. Miss X says the alleged incident with the wire hurt her and left her feeling worried. I acknowledge the impact this matter appears to have had on Miss X, but the injustice Miss X claims is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
7. The Council told Miss X the matter was now with the contractors who were completing works at the site when the alleged incident took place. Therefore, it appears the Council has already taken action to address the defect, or is in the process of doing so, and it is unlikely we would be able to achieve anything more.
8. If Miss X suffered an injury from the wire and wishes to claim compensation, it would be reasonable to expect her to take the matter to court. If Miss X would like to take the matter to court, she may wish to first obtain legal advice about whether the claim would be against the Council, the contractor or someone else.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough injustice to warrant an investigation and there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman