East Suffolk Council (19 020 488)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council restricting the complainant’s contact with it. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr D, has complained the Council has restricted his contact with it.
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 may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
- We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3) as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr D said in his complaint and background information provided by the Council. I have also seen the Council’s unreasonable behaviour policy. Mr D commented on a draft before I made this decision.
What I found
- The Council wrote to Mr D in October 2019 to say it was restricting his contact for one year because it considered his frequent communications were unreasonable. considering taking action under its ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’ procedure. It advised him how he should raise any issues in future. The Council also told him how to appeal the decision.
- Mr D appealed and the Council confirmed in December the restriction would remain in place. The Council also offered Mr D a further right of appeal but he did pursue this.
Final decision
- I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council is entitled to restrict contact from people it regards as acting unreasonably and has followed its policy in doing so. We are unlikely to find evidence of fault in how the Council has decided to do this in Mr D’s case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman