The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s failure to pay his company for the care it provided on behalf of the Council. This is because the amount of money Mr B says the Council owes significant enough to be pursued in court in contract law, and it would be reasonable for Mr B to use this to remedy any injustice the Council has caused him or his company.
The complaint
Mr B says the Council has failed to pay for care he provided as agreed under a contractual arrangement. Mr B says the debt dates back to 2015 and he is owed between £300K and £500K. Mr B says this has caused him financial hardship and personal debt. Mr B wants the Council to pay him what it owes.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Some of the unpaid monies date back to 2015. Mr B would have known about these matters at the time and there is no reason why he could not have come to us then if he was concerned he was providing care the Council was not paying for.
The level of the debt Mr B is seeking to recuperate from the Council is substantial and it would be reasonable for him, given the contractual arrangements he says he had with the Council, to resolve this matter in a court as a contractual dispute. The cost of doing so would not be disproportionate to the amount he says the Council owes.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it would be reasonable for him to seek a remedy through the courts, and because a complaint about some of the unpaid money is late with no good reason for us to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman