Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to ensure that bus timetables are replaced and kept updated at bus shelters in his local area. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has replaced the timetables and there is insufficient remaining injustice to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains that the Council failed to ensure the transport authority kept bus timetables updated and replaced missing ones at bus shelters in its area. He says this can inconvenience service users.

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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 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says the Council failed to respond to his complaint about missing or outdated timetables at bus stops in his area. He says it was often several weeks before he received any response form the Council using its online reporting tool. He complained to the Council and it upheld his complaint. It told him that the problem related to its reporting system.
5. The Council is responsible for issuing the timetables which are printed by the County Council and distributed by the bus operators. It accepted that there was some delay in co-ordinating the partners involved. It also said that some sites displayed incorrect timetables. The Council says that the timetables were replaced at the sites Mr X complained about in the week following his complaint to us.
6. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. In this case the Council has carried out the action which it told Mr X it would take in its complaint response.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has replaced the timetables and there is insufficient remaining injustice to warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman