Summary: Mr B complains the Council ignored male victims of domestic abuse in its conference on domestic abuse and about the way it dealt with his complaint about this matter. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because it is unlikely an investigation will achieve any useful outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council excluded discussion about male victims of domestic abuse and did not represent them in its presentation during a conference on domestic abuse. Mr B says this impacted on him as a male victim and added to the mental health problems he already has.

Back to top

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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and the Council. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

Back to top

What I found

4. Mr B is a victim of domestic abuse. He attended a conference on domestic abuse arranged by the Council.
5. After the conference Mr B contacted an officer who had presented at the conference and raised his concerns about what had been presented and a slide that had been used which referred to female victims but not male victims.
6. The officer responded by explaining the narrative which accompanied the slide had referred to all victims and made the point that the Council was one of only a few local authorities which offers a dedicated male victim service.
7. The same officer wrote again to Mr B when he requested information relating to the reporting of domestic abuse and clarified that the Council only held information of reports made to services for support. The officer explained why Mr B’s concerns had been treated as comments on the Council’s policy and approach rather than as a complaint.
8. In its last letter to Mr B about these matters, a Council manager explained why, as Mr B’s comments were opinions about its policies and approach, it did not treat them as a complaint. The manager acknowledged that Mr B would dispute this decision but told him that the Council felt it had appropriately responded to his communication and would not do so any further.

Assessment

9. There is a difference of views as to what mention was made of male victims at the conference because Mr B says no mention was made and the officer who gave the presentation said reference was made to all victims. Whatever was said, Mr B was clearly unhappy with the level of inclusion. However, he fed his comments back to those involved at the Council and I will send it Mr B’s suggestions about further engagement with organisations working with male victims. However, I do not consider an investigation by the Ombudsman will achieve any useful outcome.
10. If Mr B is unhappy about the Council’s responses to his service access requests he can complain to the Information Commissioner and as we normally expect someone to take data protection complaints to this body we will not investigate this matter.
11. Mr B says he considers that the Council has breached its “professional duty of care” and referred to a leaflet which notes female victims and support numbers but not male. While the wording of this leaflet is noted, the Council has a dedicated male victim service so it cannot be said to be ignoring that victims can be male.

Back to top

Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely an investigation will achieve any useful outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman