Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to limit how he could contact it. There is not enough evidence of significant injustice to Mr X and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council unfairly used its policy on managing unreasonable or unacceptable customer behaviour to limit how he could contact it. He wanted the Council to explain its decision further and allow him to complain about its decision.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. The Council wrote to Mr X to tell him the frequency and tone of some of his recent communications he sent it were unacceptable. It said it would limit how he could contact it, in line with its policy.
6. The Council told Mr X he could only raise issues through its complaints email address. It told him he could not directly contact council officers and any messages with an unacceptable tone would not be responded to. It said it would review the restrictions in six months.
7. Mr X complained to us. He said he tried to complain to the Council about its decision, but it would not consider his complaint. He said he asked it to send evidence of what it considered to be unacceptable messages from him, but it did not send him this.
8. In the period since Mr X first complained to us, the Council has reviewed its decision and it agreed to lift the restrictions.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of significant injustice to Mr X. The Council’s restrictions did not stop him from being able to complain to it during that time, if he needed to.
10. If we had investigated and found any fault with the Council, it is likely we would have asked it to review its decision. It has already completed this, and so any investigation by us into the Council’s decision-making would not achieve a different outcome.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of significant injustice and further investigation by us would likely not lead to a different outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman