The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a land charge enquiry. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is reasonable for the complainant to ask the court to decide whether the Council was negligent and should pay damages.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council provided wrong information when it responded to his land charge enquiry made as part of the conveyancing process when he was buying property. He says the Council was negligent and is seeking £18,000 in damages.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
Deciding whether an organisation has been negligent usually involves rigorous and structured consideration of evidence as only the court can do. Also, only a court can decide if an organisation has been negligent and so should pay damages. We cannot recommend actions or payments that ‘punish’ the organisation.
The Ombudsman cannot decide whether the Council has been negligent and has no powers to enforce an award of damages. So, we usually expect someone in Mr X’s position to seek a remedy in the courts. I do not consider there is any reason why he cannot do this. So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman