The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees the Council invoiced Mr X’s property development company for. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X owns a property development company (the Company). The Company paid the Council a £10,000 deposit for it to complete a technical review of highways work needed as part of a development.
Mr X complained after the Council invoiced the Company a further £6,500. He said the Council had not told him that the cost of the technical review had gone over the initial deposit. He said if he had known the fees were increasing, he would have handled the process differently to minimise costs.
Mr X wants the Council to cancel its invoice and change its practices, so it sends financial updates to developers on a regular basis.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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
In the Council’s complaint response, it apologised for not keeping Mr X updated about the cost of the technical review. However, it said that financial updates were not part of the agreement between the Company and the Council. It said that agreement allowed the Council to charge additional fees if the initial deposit did not meet the costs incurred by the Council.
Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response, we will not investigate this complaint further. The signed agreement between the Council and the Company states that the Council can invoice for additional costs, therefore, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our investigating. Mr X could pursue a remedy with the courts if he believes the Council has breached the agreement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman