Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to obtain a liability order to recover unpaid business rates. This is because the complaint is about how the Council commenced court action which places it outside of our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to seek a liability order against him for unpaid business rates.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainants representative.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The complainant says the Council issues a court summons against him despite the fact that discussions between the Council and his financial representative were ongoing. This resulted in the court issuing him a liability order.
7. The council started legal proceedings against Mr X in issuing the summons. The complaint is essentially about the start of court action. As such the restriction in paragraph 3 applies. We, therefore, cannot consider Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter is subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman