The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss X’s complaint about one of its officers.
Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council could not properly investigate her complaint about the conduct of a Council officer. This was because the council vehicle they were driving did not have a functioning dashcam.
Miss X said the matters have caused a negative emotional impact and impacted on her trust in the Council.
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained to the Council about the conduct of one of its officers. Miss X said there was an incident between her and the officer driving a Council vehicle.
In its complaint response the Council said the vehicle had a faulty dashcam and therefore it could not review the footage. The Council therefore did not uphold the complaint due to a lack of evidence.
The Council told Miss X it was now checking all dashcams in its vehicles, because of her complaint and offered apologies.
While I acknowledge Miss X’s disappointment in the lack of available evidence due to a faulty dashcam, I do not consider further investigation by the Ombudsman would lead to a different outcome. The apologies and corrective actions taken by the Council appear to be appropriate. The Police are the appropriate service to investigate allegations of poor driving.
Miss X raised additional concerns about the Council’s management of dashcams. We will not investigate this because those concerns do not amount to a personal injustice to Miss X.
Finally, because we will not investigate the substantive matters, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman