North East Lincolnshire Council (20 000 004)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Jul 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 he would find there has been fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, 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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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 that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint including the Council’s letter to him regarding his contact. I have also seen the Council’s policy on ‘unreasonable complainant behaviour’ and ‘unreasonably persistent complainants’.
- Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.
What I found
- The Council advised Mr B in September 2019 it found the nature and frequency of his contacts to be inappropriate. In February 2020, it told him it had reviewed his contact and, as the inappropriate contact had continued, it decided to introduce restrictions under its policy. It has not prevented Mr B from using its services. The Council will review the restriction in line with its policy.
Final decision
- I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is nothing to suggest there was fault in how the Council decided to restrict Mr B’s contact. In the absence of fault, we cannot question the merits of that decision.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman