The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the information the Council provided to a tribunal. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate.
The complaint
Mr and Mrs X have complained about the information the Council provided to the Land Registry in response to a notice it received about a proposed registration of land. The information was included with the evidence to be considered by the Land Registration First-Tier Tribunal. Mr and Mrs X say the Council’s information was false and sent with the intention of depriving them of their land.
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 someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal to the tribunal. (R (on application of Milburn) v Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman [2023] EWCA Civ 207)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr and Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman