Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council unfairly terminated the complainant’s contract for services. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to pursue the substantive matter in court, and it is not a good use of our resources to look at the Council’s associated complaint handling in isolation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains her contract for services was terminated unfairly by the Council, and that when she questioned this her concerns were not considered impartially.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. And 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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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. A dispute about whether the Council properly terminated the contract is a matter which the courts are best placed to consider, as they have the expertise to consider this complex area of law. The Ombudsman will therefore not investigate the complaint as it is reasonable to expect Miss X to pursue a court remedy.
7. As we are not investigating the substantive, underlying matter (the termination of the contract) it would not be a good use of our resources to look at the Council’s subsequent complaint handing in isolation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to take the matter to court, and we will not look at the Council’s complaint handling in isolation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman