Northamptonshire County Council (19 002 484)
Category : Other Categories > Commercial and contracts
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Jun 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to pay her £130,000 in ‘Early Years’ nursery funding. This is because it would be reasonable for Ms X to take the matter to court.
The complaint
- The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council has failed to pay her £130,000 in ‘Early Years’ funding and has not responded to her complaint about the matter. She would like a third party to mediate and for the Council to pay her the money owed.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I reviewed the information provided by Ms X, shared my draft decision with her and considered her comments.
What I found
- Ms X has a contract with the Council for nursery funding. She says the Council has not paid the full amount due under the contract and that it owes her some £130,000. She complained to the Council but has not received a response.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. If Ms X is owed a substantial amount of money under a contract with the Council it would be reasonable for her to take the matter to court. Our decisions are not binding and we cannot force the Council to pay Ms X as she would like.
- While Ms X is also unhappy about the way the Council has dealt with her complaint, the courts have said that where we cannot investigate a complaint about the main or underlying issue, we cannot normally investigate related issues either. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration in England [2006] EWHC 2847 (Admin)). So, where the substance of a complaint is not subject to investigation, the Ombudsman does not investigate the Council’s handling of the issue in isolation.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Ms X to take the matter to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman