Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a refund for a cancelled swimming lesson. There is insufficient outstanding injustice to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has delayed processing a refund for a cancelled swimming lesson and has requested unnecessary personal information from him as part of the refund process. He wants the Council to process the refund back to his bank account.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any outstanding injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In its complaint responses, the Council agreed to refund the cost of the cancelled lesson. It also offered him a further £50 to acknowledge the time and trouble he had gone to resolving his complaint. It said if he attended a leisure centre, he could collect the payment directly or it could make the payment to his card. Mr X declined these options and requested the Council make the payment directly into his bank account. The Council agreed to this but requested a copy of a bank statement to set him up on its system as a payee.
6. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has offered Mr X several ways to receive the payment. If Mr X does not want to provide the requested information, the Council has offered him alternative ways to receive the refund which it is open to him to accept.
7. We do not normally investigate cases unless there is evidence the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of Council fault or failure. This is not the case here. There is insufficient injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient outstanding injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman