Northumberland County Council (22 002 302)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 May 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to continue to treat Mr X as a vexatious complainant. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X sufficient to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision, following a review, to continue to treat him as a vexatious complainant. He says it did not properly follow the relevant policies in making its decision.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Due to the volume and nature of his contact with the Council, it decided to treat him as a vexatious complainant. It gave him a single point of contact and told him it would review its decision in 3 months.
- Having now reviewed its decision, it decided to continue to treat Mr X as a vexatious complainant. It told him of its decision and the reasons for it and that his case will be reviewed again in 3 months.
- Mr X disagrees with the Council’s latest decision and claims it did not properly follow its policy in this area. However, as we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation, we will not investigate the complaint. Moreover, as Mr X continues to have use of a single point of contact at the Council, and the decision will be reviewed again in 3 months, there is also insufficient injustice caused to him to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman