Summary: We have upheld Mr X's complaint about the Council's handling of finds he deposited with its museum service. The Council accepted shortcomings in its recording and documentation processes. It has agreed to pay Mr X £150 to recognise the uncertainty, distress and avoidable time and trouble this caused. This is a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to follow Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) guidance when recording finds he deposited with its museum service. He says the Council's poor record keeping resulted in the loss of a rare coin. He wants the Council to accept responsibility for the missing coin and compensate him for the coin and the impact the matter has had on him.

Back to top

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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

5. Mr X complains the Council failed to follow Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) guidance when recording finds he deposited with its museum service. He says the Council's poor record keeping resulted in the loss of a rare coin and caused him significant distress, uncertainty and time and trouble pursuing the matter.
6. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find fault because the Council has acknowledged shortcomings in its logging and documentation processes. The available records, including the finds list and the signed receipt, support Mr X's account that a coin matching his description was included in the finds presented to the Council. However, the Council failed to create records sufficient to establish exactly what was deposited.
7. As a result of those shortcomings, it is now not possible to determine what happened to the coin. The Council's failure to keep adequate records caused Mr X uncertainty, distress and avoidable time and trouble pursuing the matter.
8. We have not considered whether the Council lost Mr X's coin. The available evidence is insufficient to determine what happened to the coin. While the available records support Mr X's account that a coin matching his description was included in the finds presented to the Council, the Council's inadequate record keeping means it is no longer possible to establish exactly what was deposited. It would therefore not be possible for us to reach a reliable finding on whether the Council lost the coin. However, if we investigated, it is likely we would find the Council's inadequate record keeping left this dispute incapable of being resolved.
9. We therefore asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused by its actions by paying Mr X £150 to recognise the uncertainty, distress and avoidable time and trouble caused by its failure to keep adequate records of the deposited finds.

Actions Agreed

10. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early and will pay Mr X £150 within one month of our final decision.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We have upheld this complaint because the Council failed to keep adequate records of the finds deposited with its museum service. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman