The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the disposal of items belonging to the complainant. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, says the Council authorised the disposal of items he owned. Mr X says this has left him struggling financially and has affected legal proceedings involving access to his children.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The items disposed of were in a property belonging to Mr X’s former partner (Miss Y). In June 2021, the Council arranged for a skip to be delivered to Miss Y’s property. This was to help her clear her home. In its response to Mr X’s complaint the Council accepted it had not told Mr X the skip was due to be delivered. But it also said there had been discussions since December 2020 about Mr X needing to remove his possessions from the property. The Council said it was Miss Y who refused to let a friend of Mr X’s collect his belongings. It was Miss Y who ultimately disposed of Mr X’s property.
We will not start an investigation into Mr X’s complaint. This is because we could not say the Council was responsible for the losses Mr X has incurred. The Council arranged for the skip to be delivered, but it did not dispose of the items. Even if the Council had not arranged for the skip to be delivered, the outcome might still have been the same. Miss Y could still have disposed of the items. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant us investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman