The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to refund a civil partnership booking fee. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained the Council had refused to refund a civil partnership booking fee. Miss X’s partner booked an appointment for a civil partnership but discovered the date was not suitable. Miss X says it took around five hours to speak to someone. The Council then said the booking fee was non-refundable.
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
In its responses to Miss X’s complaint the Council has said the booking fee is non-refundable, as explained on its website. It has refunded Miss X the Ceremony and Certificate fees for the cancelled booking. Again, this is in line with the information on its website.
We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint. Our role is not to act as an appeal body for people who disagree with a council’s decision. We will only intervene if there is fault in the way a council has reached a decision, for example by not following published information. That is not the case here. The Council is simply following its published terms as we would expect it to do. If we were to investigate, it is unlikely we would find fault, and so an investigation is not appropriate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman