Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an incident during which Mr X says a Council employee prevented him leaving a Council building and shouted at him. There is insufficient evidence the matter caused a significant injustice that would warrant investigation by the Ombudsman, nor is there sufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about an incident that occurred in a Council building, during which he said a member of staff prevented him leaving the building and shouted at him. He said he could not use the lift due to claustrophobia but was denied use of the stairs.
2. Mr X said the matter caused him distress and has left him fearful of returning to the same building. He wanted the Council to allow people to use the stairs, and pay him compensation for what he considered a breach of his human rights and imprisonment.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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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. We will normally only investigate a complaint where:
• the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the service provider, or
• there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower-level injustice that remain unresolved over a long period of time.
7. The incident Mr X complains about was a brief, one-off event. While Mr X says the event caused him distress, the injustice he says he experienced is not sufficient to warrant investigation by us.
8. In any event, it is unlikely we could say what happened even if we decided to investigate this complaint. Mr X’s version of events differs from that of the member of staff in question. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant investigation of this event by the Ombudsman. Imprisonment is a matter Mr X should raise with the police rather than the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence the matter caused a significant injustice that would warrant investigation by the Ombudsman, nor is there sufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman