Forest of Dean District Council (20 000 150)
Category : Benefits and tax > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Sep 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to seek a bankruptcy notice against him. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because it is out of time and was also a matter for the courts.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to seek a bankruptcy notice against him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council, and the complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X says that he was told by the Council that it had obtained a bankruptcy order against him in September 2016. He disputed the matter in 2017.
- Mr X says that he only became aware in 2020 that the Council may not have had a debt recovery and bankruptcy policy at that time.
- I consider that it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have made a complaint to this office within 12 months from the point he became aware of the order and so this matter is out of time and therefore out of jurisdiction. Any question of whether the Council had acted with fault could have been investigated in 2017.
- Further, any dispute about the appropriateness of a bankruptcy order was a matter for the courts, not the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time and also a matter for the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman