The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint because it is about a contract dispute between the Council and the complainant and the matter has been subject to the commencement of court proceedings.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to pay for a service that his company provided in 2019.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about contractual or other commercial transactions. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 3, as amended) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
The complainant now has had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
I cannot investigate this complaint because it is a dispute about contractual transactions and therefore falls outside of our jurisdiction. Furthermore, Mr X took the matter to the small claims court in 2019 and therefore the issues have been subject to the commencement of court proceedings.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is a contractual dispute for which court proceedings have commenced.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman