Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about contact restrictions the Council has placed on the complainant. The Council confirms it regularly reviews the contact arrangements and will be writing to the complainant shortly. We consider that an investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about contact restrictions placed on him by the Council. He says this is an abuse of power.

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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 there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In July 2024, the Council wrote to Mr X. It said it had previously advised him to contact different departments with his concerns. However, Mr X had continued to send many emails containing large attachments to various senior officers. The Council said he also continued to call its helpline with inappropriate requests and had, on occasion, been abusive to staff. Because of this the Council confirmed Mr X’s emails would all be forwarded to a single email address which would be checked weekly. It would only respond to new issues raised.
6. The Council also confirmed it would review the restrictions in three months and tell Mr X if it decides to remove the restrictions. However, this will only happen if Mr X changes his behaviour on contacting the Council.
7. In response to my enquiries the Council confirms its Unreasonable Complainant Behaviour Board regularly reviews Mr X’s contact restrictions, but this has not changed. Therefore all his emails continue to be sent to a single mailbox which officers check weekly. But it also confirmed Mr X can contact the Council by telephone and visit its offices. He also has access to its public computers. The Council will be writing to Mr X again in near future.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has restricted Mr X’s behaviour because of the volume of his emails to individual officers. It confirms it regularly reviews the contact arrangements and will write to him again soon. We consider that further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman