The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to contact the complainant at their correspondence address. We cannot achieve the £25,000 financial compensation the complainant is seeking. Such compensation claims are matters for the courts.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council failed to contact him at his correspondence address despite him advising them several times. This means he did not received paperwork about a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for a property he owns. This means he had very little notice of the CPO and had little time to research or prepare.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide: we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complains the Council failed to write to him at his correspondence address during a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process. He says this means he had much less time to carry out necessary research and make decisions, compared to other property owners involved in the same project. Mr X wants £25,000 compensation.
We do not usually investigate complaints where the claimed injustice wholly or mainly relates to such loss or damage, because such a dispute can be remedied through the courts or by the organisation’s insurers.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the financial compensation he wants. And there is another body better placed to consider his complaint and achieve the outcome he is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman