Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Authority at an incident where it damaged Mr X’s property. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained because the Authority damaged his property while it was dealing with an incident. Mr X also said the Authority took too long to respond to his complaint about this. Mr X said this has caused him unnecessary expense.

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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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. I cannot decide whether an organisation has been negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages. So, I would usually expect someone in Mr X’s position to seek a remedy in the courts, directly or through his insurers. For this reason, will not investigate further, because I cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
5. Additionally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint, because we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman