Essex County Council (19 018 069)

Category : Transport and highways > Public transport

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 17 Mar 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her complaint about a bus leaving early. This is because Mrs X is not caused significant injustice from her complaint.

The complaint

  1. Mrs X complains the Council did not properly investigate her complaint that a bus driver drove off as she was about to get on the bus.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered what Mrs X said in her complaint. I have written to Mrs X with my draft decision and given her the chance to comment.

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What I found

  1. Mrs X complains that as she approached a bus to get on, the bus driver closed the doors and drove off. Mrs X complained as she says this is happening frequently.
  2. Mrs X does not consider the Council has properly investigated her complaint as it gave her an account of what it says happened but did not ask her what time the incident took place. Mrs X seeks an apology for the incident and the investigation.

Assessment

  1. Mrs X is not caused a level of injustice from how the Council dealt with her complaint to warrant our involvement. We would not investigate a complaint to achieve an apology alone as this is not a good use of our resources.

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Final decision

  1. My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X is not caused a significant injustice from her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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