The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to pay residential care fees. This is because Mr X can reasonably take the matter to court.
The complaint
Mr X, who represents a care home, complains the Council has failed to pay fees for a care home resident. He says the unpaid fees have caused financial problems.
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.
I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X is a director of a care home. He believes the Council is responsible for eight months’ fees for someone who was placed in the care home, amounting to over £147,000.
If Mr X believes the Council owes this money, then he can take legal action to recover the debt. So the restriction in paragraph 3 applies. It is reasonable to expect a care home business to be prepared to take court action to protect its position. Given the significant amount of money involved and the nature of the dispute, the potential cost of court action does not in itself make it unreasonable to expect Mr X’s business to take court action. The court can consider the evidence and make a binding order.
We must consider how best to use our limited resources. Disputes of this kind can involve complex questions of contract and commercial law, which are best resolved in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman