The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s treatment of Mr X when he attended the Town Hall asking to speak to the Chief Executive. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains that he was harassed and racially discriminated against by Council staff when he went to the Town Hall asking to speak to the Chief Executive.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X went to the Town Hall and asked to speak to the Council’s Chief Executive face to face. Staff at the reception contacted the Chief Executive’s PA but it was explained to him that a face-to-face meeting was not possible and that an officer would be contacting him to discuss his concerns further and his details were taken.
Mr X alleges he was harassed and racially discriminated against when his request to speak to the Chief Executive was not met and when he was asked to leave the building. The Council say Mr X’s rude manner led to the request for him to leave.
It has been explained to Mr X why requests for direct access to the Chief Executive on demand are not possible. It is up to the Chief Executive to decide whether or not to meet someone requesting a meeting and there is no automatic right for anyone to be given a face-to-face meeting with the Chief Executive.
Mr X says he wants the video recording of his visit to the Town Hall to be requested and viewed. Unfortunately, however, the Council has advised that video footage is deleted automatically after 30 days and there is no footage of the visit in question which can be viewed.
The Council and Mr X have a different version of events as to what took place at the Town Hall. However, there is no video footage available to review and based on the information available, an investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman