The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in connection with a commercial project she worked on. This is because Miss X has agreed a settlement with the Council and had she felt the settlement did not provide a suitable remedy it would have been reasonable for her to take the matter to court.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council pressured her into taking on a project and did not provide proper support. She says this caused her stress. Miss X would like the Council to apologise and change its practices to better protect small businesses
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 Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The project engaged Miss X as a local business owner and regardless of any pressure to take it on, it was Miss X’s decision whether to become involved or not. As part of this decision it was for Miss X to ensure she would be reimbursed adequately for her time and that the risks of the project were outweighed by what she had to gain from it.
The Council agreed to indemnify Miss X in certain circumstances but these did not come to pass. However it has agreed an ex-gratia payment to recognise her efforts and Miss X has agreed to accept this in full and final settlement of any claims and complaints. The amount of the remedy agreed by the Council is far in excess of any remedy we would be likely to recommend and had Miss X not been satisfied with it, it would have been reasonable for her to make a claim against the Council through the courts.
Miss X would like the Council to improve its processes for working with small businesses in similar situations but we will not investigate its actions further as the courts are better placed to determine if the Council breached its obligations to Miss X in this matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter concerns a commercial/contractual matter which is more appropriate for consideration by the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman