Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the recovery action for business rates. The complaint is about how the Council conducted court action and we cannot consider this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council prevented him from having an appointment to attend court after it issued a summons for unpaid business rates. He says this caused him to have a liability order obtained against him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council issued a court summons against him but then it did not respond to his requests for an appointment. He says without an appointment he could not attend court. He says this resulted in the court issuing a liability order.
6. The council had started proceedings against Mr X in issuing the summons. The complaint is essentially about the start and conduct of court action. As such the restriction in paragraph 2 applies. We, therefore, cannot consider Mr X’s complaint about whether the Council responded to his requests for an appointment.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot consider how the Council started and conducted court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman