Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s lack of support to her during an incident which she experienced at its theatre. This is because we could not add to the Council’s investigation and a further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her with support during an incident she experienced at its theatre which involved another audience member using their mobile phone during the show. Mrs X said the matter caused her distress and she no longer feels safe attending the theatre. She wants the Council to provide her with a financial remedy. She also wants the Council to review its protocols in managing disruptive and aggressive behaviours.

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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
• 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

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X attended the Council’s theatre to watch a show. She said she approached staff before the start of the show and asked them to monitor audience members using their phones. Mrs X said she had watched a show previously where other audience members were using their phones which disrupted the show for her.
6. Mrs X said during this show, another audience member sat adjacent to her started using their phone. She asked them to put it away. Mrs X said in response, the audience member shouted at her and continued to shout at her once the show had ended. Mrs X said she called over a staff member to help her. She said the staff member was unhelpful.
7. Mrs X complained to the Council about the lack of support she received during the incident. She wanted the Council to provide her with a refund of money she had paid to watch the last two shows at its theatre. Mrs X said although the theatre had signage up asking audience members not to use their phones, it was not enough. She wanted the Council to take further action to stop this from happening.
8. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaint. In its response to Mrs X, the Council:
• said the staff member approached Mrs X when she asked for help. The staff member did not witness the incident as it appeared to have de-escalated quickly;
• said staff do carry out continuous monitoring of the audience during shows however they cannot always hear or see interactions between audience members;
• informed Mrs X staff are trained to prioritise de-escalation and need to consider their own safety as well as the safety of the wider audience;
• explained to Mrs X its procedures for managing behaviours of audience members are well-established however, they rely on staff being able to witness such behaviours; and
• said although it did not uphold Mrs X’s complaint, it recognised the distress caused to her and that it would apply a 25% credit on her account with the theatre.
9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to add to the Council’s investigation and response. The Council investigated the incident, explained what happened from its staff's perspective, set out its procedures for monitoring audiences and managing disruptive behaviour and acknowledged the distress caused by offering a 25% credit. A further investigation by us is unlikely to establish anything materially different.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s investigation and a further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman