The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to keep contact restrictions in place for Mrs X following a review at the conclusion of the initial restriction period. There is insufficient evidence of injustice to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council’s review has unfairly kept her listed as a persistent customer despite accepting her communications had decreased. She says this has caused delays in her being able to ask questions and receive answers to her enquiries.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council wrote to Mrs X in 2021 and explained in view of her excessive contact it had decided to restrict her communications. It informed her she could only contact it through the Mayor’s office and there would be a limit of 10 questions per month. The Council advised her the decision would be reviewed in one year.
Mrs X contacted the Council in 2022 and asked for the decision to be reviewed. On review the Council informed her the restriction would remain in place as it still considers her communication to be excessive.
Mrs X has told me that she is not being prevented from raising any concerns, but she is frustrated by the delays of waiting a month and feels she is not receiving the same service as other council taxpayers who can resolve things by telephone. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation. Mrs X’s dissatisfaction at being treated differently to most people does not amount to significant enough injustice for us to investigate. We have not seen evidence that having to contact the Mayor’s office and await a response has significantly disadvantaged Mrs X in practical terms.
Mrs X also says she is not happy providing personal information to the Mayor’s office. There is no fault in Mayor’s office knowing about Mrs X’s concerns as it is part of the Council. Its knowledge of these issues does not cause Mrs X an injustice.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman