Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about public transport because there is not significant enough injustice to warrant our investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms Y complained the Authority has failed to provide her with a refund of bus tickets for journeys which were delayed and where the bus broke down and was unable to complete the journey. She has also complained about being unable to obtain weekly oyster statements from her online account.
2. Ms Y says she was late for a theatre performance and would like the theatre ticket to be refunded by the Authority and the cost of the bus tickets to also be refunded.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information Ms Y and the Authority provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms Y complained that she was unable to access a weekly statement for her Oyster card. After she complained to the Authority, it was able to amend her email address on its system to allow her to access the weekly statement. As the Authority has acted to resolve the issue, we are satisfied with the actions it has taken to respond to the complaint.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered a serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss of injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. Ms Y has also said that due to the unreliability of the bus service provided by the Authority she has been late for a theatre performance. She has also requested a refund of the bus fares. We would not consider the alleged injustice caused as sufficiently serious a loss or harm. Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because there is not significant enough injustice to warrant our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman