The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council is pursuing him for payments he has already made. This is because the courts are better placed to consider the matter.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council is pursuing him for building control fees he says he has already paid.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) 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) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has invited Mr X to provide evidence to show he paid the building control fees but he has not done so. It has therefore taken the matter to court.
The court is satisfied the fees remain outstanding and has confirmed the debt, allowing the Council to instruct enforcement agents to recover payment from him.
If Mr X has evidence to show he paid the building control fees he may ask the court to reconsider the matter. It is not for us to say Mr X has paid the fees when the court accepts he has not.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the court has decided the payments remain outstanding and if Mr X disputes this he would need to ask it to reconsider the matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman