North East Mayoral Combined Authority (25 023 375)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Authority’s complaint handling. This is because any injustice is not significant enough.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Authority’s contractor wrongly insisted he had chosen to receive an email notification. And both the contractor and Authority failed to address his complaint about this properly.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Authority.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I note the Authority is responsible for the actions of its contractor.
- Mr X initially complained to the contractor that it had wrongly asserted he had ticked a box on an online form, agreeing to a payment reminder, when he had not. Mr X is unhappy with how the contractor and then the Authority addressed his complaint about this.
- I acknowledge Mr X’s concern about the contractor’s reliance on a fact it cannot evidence however any injustice is not significant enough to justify an investigation by us. And it is not proportionate for us to investigate the Authority or its contractor’s complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.
- Mr X also complained to the contractor about rude staff. The contractor apologised and confirmed it would address this with the staff member. Mr X is unhappy with this outcome and that the Authority did not support further redress. However, the substantive complaint did not cause significant enough injustice to warrant an investigation by us and it is not proportionate for us to investigate the complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman