Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council failing to properly review restrictions placed on Mr X. The Council has agreed to a proportionate remedy for the injustice this caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has placed restrictions on his contact, including blocking him from attending public meetings. He said his status has not been reviewed annually and that he has not been told why the restrictions continue.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended).
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council has blocked Mr X from attending Council meetings for several years. The Council says Mr X is on its Person of Concern register. He is banned from attending Council Offices and the Town Hall where meetings take place due to his previous behaviour. The Councils policy says it will review status each year and write the person affected to explain the outcome of its review.
7. If we investigated this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault because it has not provided evidence that it reviewed Mr X’s Customer of Concern status annually in line with its policy. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by apologising to Mr X, reviewing Mr X’s status and writing to him with the outcome in accordance with its’ policy.

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Agreed Action

8. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will write to Mr X within one month apologising for any uncertainty. It will review if any restrictions should remain in place and explain why. The Council will inform Mr X of the date of the next review.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman