The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to follow its complaints procedure. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The Council has offered the complainant £100 in recognition of the failure. I consider this is an appropriate remedy.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr D, says the Council failed to follow its complaints procedure correctly. He also says it applied a different standard when dealing with concerns raised about him when compared with concerns raised about other people.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr D and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr D’s complaint because I am satisfied with the remedy offered by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman