Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to properly investigate her complaint about an incident involving a highway contractor. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X complains about the Council’s failure to inform her of its investigation into an incident which she reported. She says it should tell her the outcome and compensate her for its failure.

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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 would find fault, or
• 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Ms X submitted with her complaint and she has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Ms X says she was sworn at by a council highway contractor when she entered a traffic-controlled area. She says the workman was operating a stop-go system alone and that the safety provisions were inadequate for one person to operate. She complained to the Council and it told her it would investigate. It also apologised to her for any offence caused by its contractor.
5. Ms X made a further complaint when she was not told of what measures the Council had taken over the incident. The Council told Ms X that it could not tell her the outcome of any disciplinary action which it may have taken. However, it re-iterated its apology. Ms X asked for compensation for the Council’s failure to satisfy her enquiries.
6. Where a council has acted with fault, the Ombudsman may only uphold a complaint if that fault has resulted in significant injustice to the complainant. This is because the Local Government Act 1974 requires us to demonstrate injustice to complainants, and also because we must make good use of public resources. There is no injustice which left Ms X worse off and so an apology is the appropriate remedy in this case.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman