Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of two Transport for London station staff. An investigation would be unlikely to lead to a worthwhile outcome and we cannot investigate personnel matters.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains two Transport for London station staff were abusive towards him during an incident one morning on his way to work. He says their actions towards him were abusive. He also complains about the Authority’s response to his complaint and says the matter has caused him distress.
2. He wants the Authority to take disciplinary action against the staff involved and compensate him for the distress caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

4. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In its responses to his complaint, the Authority apologised for the delay considering his complaint. It said this was due to a recent cyber attack that had significantly impacted the Authority’s IT systems. It said it had been unable to review CCTV footage of the incident, as it had already been overwritten. However, it acknowledged the incident and apologised to him for the misunderstanding. It said it had interviewed its staff, but that they had denied assaulting or abusing him.
8. It told him that if he believed he had been the victim of a crime, he should contact the British Transport Police.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has explained the delay considering his complaint and apologised to him for this. It is unlikely we could add to this response.
10. Although I acknowledge Mr X’s report of the incident, in the absence of any CCTV footage, it is unlikely an investigation by us would be able to add to the Authority’s investigation or reach a worthwhile outcome. The Authority has apologised to him for the incident, which is an appropriate response for any distress caused.
11. In addition, the law prevents us from investigating personnel matters and so we cannot investigate what action Transport for London has taken against its staff or require it to take disciplinary action.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could reach a worthwhile outcome or achieve what he wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman