London Borough of Croydon (24 008 288)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a dispute between a private landlord and the Council. The matter has been considered by a court of law. It would be reasonable for Mr X to take his complaint back to court to enforce the terms of a settlement order if he is not happy with the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Mr X let his property out to the Council. He says there are missing items and damage to his property. He says the Council breached a court order by failing to properly compensate and complete repairs on his property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X has already applied to court to resolve his dispute with the Council. As the matter was considered by the court, we cannot investigate. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to take the matter back to court if he feels the Council is not complying with the terms of a court consent order.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has already used a court remedy and could reasonably enforce the result through the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman