Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in a matter which arose following a telephone call Mr X made to a local councillor. This is because there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council following a telephone call he made to a local councillor to report the mis-selling of products by a company to local authorities. He says the councillor did not appear interested in what he was reporting and when Mr X pointed out that it might be dangerous for councillors to have their home address available on the Council’s website, the police were called and he was wrongly arrested. He says he was discriminated against and seeks compensation.

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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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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. We do not investigate every complaint we receive, and we will not investigate where we decide there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify doing so.
6. While Mr X may not have intended his comments about councillors’ addresses being available on the Council’s website to be taken as a threat, the councillor he spoke to decided to report the matter to the police. The Council has advised that a member of its staff provided the police with a statement as part of the police investigation but otherwise played no part in the matter.
7. There is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council in its handling of this matter and no evidence to suggest Mr X has been discriminated against. That the councillor took Mr X’s comments in a way Mr X had not intended, is not evidence of fault by the Council.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman