Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about incident at a library. We cannot add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome. It would be reasonable for Mr X to pursue any personal injury claim he has with the Council’s insurer and/or the courts.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a library incident. He says he walked into an unmarked glass window and library staff then lied about what happened, including denying CCTV, logs, or staff recall. He says he has video evidence of a cover‑up and that this has caused him anxiety and depression. He wants compensation from the Council for the distress and injury caused by the accident.

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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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council carried out two investigations. Both were thorough and found no evidence of the accident based on any of the dates Mr X gave.
6. Mr X says he has video evidence, but he has not supplied this to the Council or to us. Without objective and independent evidence, we cannot add anything meaningful to what has already been done.
7. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes their power also places some restrictions on what we may investigate. One of these concerns claims about damage to property or personal injury. We cannot determine liability claims for personal injury. These are legal claims which may only be determined by insurers or the courts. We cannot decide liability or award damages. Consequently, any claim for damages due to personal injury, which Mr X considers the Council to be responsible for, are matters more appropriately dealt with by the courts. It is therefore reasonable for Mr X to pursue his personal injury claim through either the Council’s insurer or the courts. We will not investigate this complaint.
8. We will not investigate this complaint because we cannot achieve anything further by continuing the investigation.

Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council or achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman