Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s role in a road closure for a public event which affected access for a disabled person. We cannot decide whether an organisation has breached the Equality Act, as this can only be determined by the courts. Furthermore, there is not enough evidence of administrative fault by the Council to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains on behalf of her mother, Miss Y that the Council failed to consider reasonable adjustments when approving a road closure for a public event. She says this prevented Miss Y from accessing her church and attending a Christmas fair, which caused distress. Miss X also says the Council did not properly address all the points raised in her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of a council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).I
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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. 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)
5. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether or not an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them.

Organisations will often be able to show they have properly taken account of the Equality Act if they have considered the impact their decisions will have on the individuals affected and these decisions can be challenged, reviewed or appealed.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X complains the Council failed to ensure reasonable adjustments were in place when a road closure prevented her disabled mother from accessing her church. She says this amounted to discrimination and caused distress.
9. The Ombudsman is not able to determine whether the Equality Act 2010 has been breached. That is a matter for the courts. Our role is to consider whether the Council followed a proper administrative process and had due regard to the needs of disabled people when reaching its decisions.
10. In this case, the Council says it has policies and guidance in place requiring event organisers to consider inclusivity and comply with the Equality Act. It also explained the road closure required approval by the Secretary of State and the event was organised by an independent body. The organisation hosting the event was not doing so on behalf of the Council. It is therefore unlikely we would find the Council was at fault as a result of the event organiser’s actions.
11. The Council also explained there was alternative disabled parking nearby and apologised for the distress caused to Miss X and Miss Y.
12. We will not investigate this complaint. We have not seen enough evidence to suggest the Council acted with fault and it was ultimately not responsible for authorising the road closure. The Council has already apologised to Miss X for her and her mother’s distress, so this desired outcome has already been achieved.
13. Any claim that the arrangements amounted to unlawful disability discrimination is a matter better suited to the courts.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this is a matter for the courts. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman