The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council held the complainant liable for damage to stock after an incident at a market. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains that she was forced to terminate her market stall lease after she was held liable for damage. Mrs X says she was forced to leave the market due to intimidations and coercion.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X leased a stall at a Council run market, the terms of her lease said that Mrs X was responsible for the maintenance of the fixtures and fittings within her plot. One morning a flood was found which had damaged stock, a tap on Mrs X’s stall was found to be running, with items blocking the plug hole. The Council concluded that this caused the flooding and told Mrs X a claim for the damaged goods would need to be made through her insurers. Mrs X disputes liability for the damaged and says she was forced out of the market by the actions of the Council.
I will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome. The Council did initially tell Mrs X that the claim of liability would need to be made through her insurers. However, the Council subsequently decided that it would not take any action to recover any costs. In regards to Mrs X’s claim that she was forced to leave the market, I was not privy to conversations between the managers of the market and Mrs X, so cannot reach any conclusions about exactly what was said. I have however considered the correspondence between the Council and Mrs X and see no evidence of intimidation and coercion by the Council. Therefore I cannot see what more we can achieve.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman