Birmingham City Council (20 003 853)
Category : Other Categories > Commercial and contracts
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Oct 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has refused to pay him more than £25,000 he says is owed under a contract. This is because it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has failed to pay him more than £25,000 owed as part of a contract completed more than three years ago.
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 Mr X, shared my draft decision with him and considered his comments.
What I found
- Mr X is a business owner. He says the Council has failed to pay him £25,680.50 owed under a contract for a scheme jointly funded by it and the Department for Work and Pensions. He first complained to the Council about its non-payment in September 2016 and brought his complaint to the Ombudsman in December 2016. We closed our case at that time as Mr X had not completed the Council’s complaints process; the Council issued a final response to the complaint in September 2019 but Mr X was not happy with this response.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council disputes Mr X’s claim and has explained Mr X did not meet the criteria for payment under the contract. If Mr X wishes to challenge this it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the main issue concerns a contractual dispute which it would be reasonable for Mr X to take to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman