The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a local sports/leisure complex as the matter does not cause him significant injustice. We will not investigate Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s delay in dealing with his complaint as it would not be a good use of our resources to look at the issue in isolation. The Council has apologised and this provides a suitable remedy for the matter.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to respond to his concerns about the management of a local sport/leisure complex by a third party under a contract with the Council. He says the third party has allowed the complex to deteriorate and he does not believe the third party has fulfilled its contractual obligations. Mr X is also unhappy the Council failed to respond to his initial complaint from February 2022 and delayed in dealing with his further complaint raised in March 2022.
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 Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
The Council confirms it is aware of issues concerning maintenance of the complex and says it is working with the third party to resolve them. I understand Mr X would like to see more work to bring the complex up to a higher standard but this is a matter for the third party and the Council to deal with in accordance with their contract. If Mr X is dissatisfied with the standard of the facilities he may decide to go elsewhere.
Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately. The Council has apologised for its delay and it is unlikely we would recommend any further remedy.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter does not cause Mr X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman