Summary: We cannot investigate X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to make a claim against X for misuse of direct payments. This is because the matter has been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. X complains that the Council relied on inaccurate information when making a claim against X for misuse of direct payments. X complains that the Council refused to consider a new complaint from her about this matter.

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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. I cannot investigate X’s complaint. The Council commenced legal proceedings against X and in relation to its claim that they misused direct payments. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court.
6. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate X’s complaint because the matter has been subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman