The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X's complaint on behalf of Mr Y about the way London Tribunals handled correspondence and referred a matter to an adjudicator. Mr Y's complaint concerns the actions of a statutory tribunal, which are outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
Mr X complains on behalf of Mr Y that London Tribunals wrongly treated correspondence seeking assistance as a Notice of Appeal and referred the matter to an adjudicator. He says this denied Mr Y the opportunity to pursue the appeal process correctly and seek a review of the adjudicator's decision. He wants Mr Y put back in the position he would have been in or compensated for the loss of appeal rights.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits on what we can investigate.
The appeals are heard by adjudicators who are appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
We have jurisdiction to investigate complaints about the administrative actions of London Tribunals. However, the adjudicators themselves act in a quasi-judicial way. We cannot consider a complaint about a decision taken by an adjudicator on an individual appeal or about the way in which they reached that decision.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from the complainant and the Authority, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My Assessment
The London Tribunals is a statutory tribunal. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about local authorities and certain other bodies, but we cannot investigate the actions of a statutory tribunal. Mr Y's complaint is about the way London Tribunals handled correspondence, registered a case and referred it to an adjudicator for determination. The alleged injustice arises from actions taken as part of tribunal proceedings and the outcome of that process.
We cannot investigate matters arising from the proceedings or decisions of a statutory tribunal.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint because it concerns the handling of proceedings by a statutory tribunal, which is outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman