The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council deciding she is liable for damage to the pavement outside a property she was renovating, and how it dealt with her complaint.
We cannot resolve the legal dispute at the core of the complaint so investigation would not lead to any different outcome. We do not investigate council complaints processes where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint.
The complaint
Miss X had some work done at a property she owns. The Council identified some damage to the pavement outside the property and invoiced Miss X for repairs to the pavement. Miss X complains the Council: failed to investigate the cause of the pavement damage before holding her responsible; has classified the pavement outside her property as damaged but has treated other broken slabs in the same road as ‘wear and tear’; did not consider her explanations and arguments.
Miss X says the Council is threatening her with court action to pursue the repair costs. She feels targeted and victimised by the Council. She wants the Council to remove the invoice and properly investigated matters in future.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Miss X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The core issue in Miss X’s complaint is a dispute over whether she is liable for the damage to the Council’s pavement. The Council considers she is liable and has sought to charge her for the cost of repairs. Miss X does not believe she is liable and has given her reasons for this to the Council during the complaint, which she says it has not properly considered.
To resolve this complaint, we would need to determine whether Miss X bears legal liability for the damage to Council property. But we cannot make such legal rulings. The body which can make legal and binding rulings on this matter is the court system.
We will not investigate the matter because we cannot resolve the legal dispute at the core of the complaint, so an investigation would not lead to any different outcome.
As Miss X believes she is not responsible for the pavement damage, she may decide not to pay the Council’s invoice. It would then be for the Council to decide how to proceed. If it considers it should pursue the payment, the Council would need to satisfy a court of Miss X’s liability, to obtain a court order requiring her to pay. Miss X would be able to put her case to the court during the proceedings. If the Council decides not to pursue the payment, then the matter would fall away.
Miss X has also complained about the Council’s response to her complaint. She says officers did not take account of her arguments and information. We do not investigate councils’ complaint handling in isolation when we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so we will not investigate this part of the complaint. Any legal action by the Council on this matter would also provide Miss X with the opportunity to put her arguments to the court.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because: we cannot resolve the legal dispute at the core of the complaint so investigation would not lead to any different outcome; and we do not investigate council complaints processes where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman