Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Council decision to close some of the facilities at a local leisure centre. There is insufficient personal injustice to warrant our involvement and we cannot achieve what he wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a Council decision to close some of the facilities at a local leisure centre. He says the decision negatively impacts his family and the wider community. He wants the Council to re-open all the facilities and for an independent third party to decide on the leisure centre’s future.

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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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Our legal framework allows us to decide which complaints we will pursue. Our Assessment Code sets out how we assess each complaint brought to us and decide which complaints we will investigate.
6. The Code states we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the Council. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the complainant is using their enquiry as a way of raising a wider community campaign about something of general concern but where they have not suffered direct or significant injustice.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. Although I accept Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision to close part of the leisure facilities, there is insufficient evidence he has suffered a direct or significant injustice resulting from the Council’s actions.
8. In addition, Mr X wants the Council to re-open the facilities but we could not direct it to do this, so cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient personal injustice to warrant our involvement and we cannot achieve what he wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman