Thurrock Council (26 008 469)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s adult social care financial assessment, charging decision, and its decision to take legal action against Mr X. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council’s financial assessment, charging decision and decision to apply for a County Court Judgement (CCJ) were all based on inaccurate information. Mr X also says the Council’s decision to pursue him personally was wrong.
- Mr X says this caused distress.
- Mr X wants the Council to review its decisions based on all available information.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X’s complaints about the financial assessment and charging decision are inseparable from the Council’s later successful application to the court for a CCJ.
- Therefore, we cannot investigate this complaint because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.
- Mr X could have challenged the Council’s evidence in court as part of the CCJ application.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman