London Tribunals (19 013 345)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Authority failed to respond to the complainant’s letters and emails. This is because the matter has been resolved.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Authority ignored his correspondence.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 the Authority has provided a satisfactory remedy and the problem has been resolved. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I read the complaint and the Authority’s response. I read Mr X’s email saying he is happy for me to close the complaint.
What I found
What happened
- Mr X contacted the Authority six times between July and August 2019. He says he asked for some information but the Authority ignored him.
- The Authority has now written to Mr X to offer sincere apologies for its failure to respond. It said this had been caused by a processing error. It explained what had gone wrong and said it had issued training instructions. The Authority then answered the questions Mr X had asked in 2019.
- Mr X says he will seek some further clarification from the Authority regarding his questions. But, he is satisfied with the Authority’s response regarding his complaint about being ignored.
Assessment
- I will not start an investigation because the Mr X is satisfied with the Authority’s response and he has asked me to close the complaint.
Final decision
- I will not start ab investigation because the Authority has provided a remedy and the matter has been resolved.
Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman