Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to prosecute the complainant for breaching health and safety regulations. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate as the matters complained about have been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about the Council’s decision to prosecute him for breaching health and safety regulations. Mr X says the Council did not follow the correct procedure and provided false information to the court. Mr X says he has incurred significant costs because of the Council’s actions. He says the matter should return to court and the convictions quashed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters he has complained about have already been subject to court proceedings and are therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman