The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the Council making false allegations to protect itself because there is insufficient injustice to warrant our involvement.
The complaint
Ms B says in response to a complaint she made to the Council, it lied and made false allegations to protect itself. When Ms B challenged the Council and asked it for supporting evidence it could not provide it. Ms B says the Council is morally corrupt. Ms B is aggrieved at what she says is a false allegation about her and wants the Council to rectify the false allegations.
Ms B says the Council responds aggressively and defensively rather than treating complaints as an opportunity to improve service. Ms B says she feels helpless and distressed. Ms B has no faith in the Council and wants it placed under special measures and an independent review of its ability to run its Adult Social Services. As a minimum outcome Ms B wants the Council to acknowledge and explain its behaviour towards her, to apologise for that behaviour, and to commit to be honest and transparent.
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: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Ombudsman only looks at what we decide are the most significant and serious complaints. We must consider whether the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of fault by the Council.
Although Ms B is upset and feels helpless because of the way the Council has corresponded with her, I do not consider her injustice is serious enough to justify our involvement.
Ms B says the Council holds data about her which is incorrect. You can challenge the accuracy of personal data held about you by an organisation and ask for it to be corrected or deleted. This is known as the ‘right to rectification’. If your data is incomplete, you can ask for the organisation to complete it by adding more details.
You have a right to get your data corrected. Ms B can ask the Council to correct the data that contains unproven allegations, or at least add to it to say she refutes it. If she is unhappy with how it responds she can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Although this would not achieve a finding of maladministration or an apology, it would correct information on file or at least ensure Ms B’s version of events is formally recorded.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because she does not have a significant injustice to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman