The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an inaccurate statement made about her by a council officer. This is because it is the court’s role to determine if Mrs X is entitled to damages and we therefore consider it would be reasonable for Mrs X to make a claim against the Council at court.
The complaint
The complainant, Mrs X, complains a council officer made a statement about her which was wrong and damaged her reputation. She says this caused her distress and health issues.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Claims for reputational damage, emotional damage and personal injury resulting from libel or slander are matters for the courts rather than for us.
The Council has apologised to Mrs X, offered her compensation and agreed to issue a correction statement regarding the allegation made by the officer. Whether this provides a sufficient remedy for the damages she describes is a matter for the courts to decide. So if Mrs is unhappy with the Council’s offer it would be reasonable for her to make a claim against it at court. It is unlikely we could anything more for her.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to take the matter to court if she is unhappy with the remedy offered by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman