The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council’s preference for on-line communication is discriminatory. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council’s preference for communicating on-line discriminated against residents who could not access the internet. He said the Council had not responded to four written letters he had sent it. He said he is disabled and does not have access to the internet. He wants the Council to improve other methods of contact.
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: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or 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
Mr X contacted his Member of Parliament (MP) after he said the Council had not responded to four letters, he had sent it about his council tax. Mr X’s MP passed the complaint to the Council.
The Council telephoned Mr X. In that conversation, it dealt with his council tax concern. It also apologised for the difficulties Mr X experienced telephoning the Council. It said it was reviewing staffing levels and the content of letters to improve contact. The Council sent Mr X a final complaint response. In that it said that its strategy was for customers to contact it on-line. However, it had three telephone contact centres and that provided face-to-face support sessions and drop-ins.
Although Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response, we will not investigate further. Mr X’s initial contact with the Council was about his council tax. As the Council has resolved the issue with the council tax, there is no outstanding injustice. Although Mr X feels he is expected to use on-line contact with the Council, it has confirmed it also provides telephone and face-to-face contact. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council supports customers to access its services to justify our involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no outstanding injustice and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council promotes contact to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman