Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council taking court action against Ms X. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been before the courts.

The complaint

1. Ms X is a landlord. She complains the Council has conspired against her and acted unprofessionally when taking court action against her under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. She says the Council has harassed her, affecting her health and finances. She wants the Council to write off debts the courts have said she owes, provide information she has requested and make service improvements.

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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)
4. The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
5. 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))
6. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Ms X complains about events of late 2022. The Council issued its final response in October 2022. This complaint would now be considered late.
10. However, even if the complaint were not late, it is about matters the law prevents us investigating. We have no discretion to investigate the Council’s decision to pursue court action against Ms X relating to her eviction of a tenant.
11. We also cannot investigate matters Ms X has herself already taken to court. Ms X pursued judicial review proceedings against the Council for actions it took prior to commencing proceedings under the Protection from Eviction Act. Ms X’s complaint is solely about matters that either were, or should have been, raised during the several court processes that have taken place.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating matters that have been before the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman