Leeds City Council (19 014 362)
Category : Transport and highways > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 18 Dec 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council prevented the prosecution of a third party. He is unlikely to find that fault by the Council caused the complainant significant injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, is a taxi driver licensed by the Council. He says the Council took action against him on the basis of video evidence provided by a third party. Mr B says delay by the Council in providing a copy of the video meant the police did not prosecute the third party for an offence.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’.
- We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault;
- the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
- the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and discussed it with him.
What I found
- Mr B believes a video a third party provided to the Council is itself evidence of an offence by the third party. He asked the Council for a copy of the video and says delay in providing it meant it was too late for the police to prosecute the third party.
- It was for the police to decide whether to prosecute the third party and they could have asked the Council for evidence if they wished. Even if it the police did prosecute the third party and the prosecution succeeded, this would not directly affect Mr B.
Final decision
- I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find that fault by the Council caused Mr B injustice that would justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman