Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council added Mr X to its Potentially Violent Person Register. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council added him to its Potentially Violent Person Register (PVPR) after making enquiries about his council tax. He said the Council did not consider that he is vulnerable or record his reasonable adjustments.
2. He said Council staff were terminating his calls since being added to the register preventing him making council tax enquiries. He wants to be removed from the register and his reasonable adjustment to be recorded.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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 added Mr X to its PVPR after it was reported he had been verbally aggressive during a telephone call. Mr X appealed the Council’s decision and said he has a hearing disability and had been accused of shouting.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.

8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council said it considered the information recorded about the incident and decided it was necessary to place Mr X on the register. In its appeal outcome letter, it said a panel reviewed the incident report and telephone recordings and based on this information, Mr X would remain on the register. It also said the Council considered Mr X’s disability and he could contact customer services to arrange any necessary adaptions for future contact. The Council followed its process for the register. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify the Ombudsman’s involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman