Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council made a false statement to the police about the complainant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council made a false statement about him to the police. As a consequence Mr X was visited by police officers. Mr X says the accusations were unfounded.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered a transcript of the telephone call. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mr X rang the Council to report problems with this neighbour. After the call the Council contacted the police because Mr X made threats to kill during the call. The police visited Mr X. Mr X was not arrested.
5. Mr X complained to the Council and said the accusation was unfounded. In response the Council made a transcript of the call. The Council confirmed that Mr X had made threats to kill and it had a duty of care to report those threats to the police.
6. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s responses and with its refusal to retract the accusation.

Assessment

7. I have read the transcript of the call. The notes state that Mr X said, “I’m telling everyone I’m gonna kill them simple as that…I’m gonna kill them simple as that…I have told you before and am gonna kill them… am gonna kill them… I don’t care about the police coz their not doing anything I’m gonna kill them ok.”. As the notes of the call state that Mr X threatened to kill people there is nothing to suggest the Council made an unfounded report to the police. On this basis I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
8. Mr X says the Council has provided selective information. However, the only information required is whether Mr X made the comments and this is what the Council has provided. There is no other information I need from the Council to allow me to make a decision.

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Final decision

9. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman