The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about service charges in connection with a commercial lease as this is a matter for the courts.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council has breached the commercial lease she has with it and that its service charges are unlawful. Miss X seeks a refund of charges she has paid and for the Council to comply with procedure and law in setting the service charges. Miss X also complains the Council has not properly considered her complaint about these matters.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The matters Miss X complains about are legal issues which we cannot determine as they can only ultimately be decided by the courts. We cannot determine if there has been a breach of the lease or what service charges Miss X should pay.
It is reasonable therefore to expect Miss X to resort to court action, should the matter remain unresolved, and we will not therefore investigate.
We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Miss X’s complaint as a separate issue as the injustice caused to Miss X from this in isolation is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to resort to court action for the resolution she seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman