Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (19 014 824)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Jan 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint a council officer lied as part of court proceedings. This is because we cannot consider matters discussed in court. If Mr X wanted to challenge what the Council officer said, then he should have raised his concerns in court.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains a council officer lied during court proceedings to try and secure an injunction against him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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 considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X complains a council officer lied as part of court proceedings. Mr X says the officer did this to try and secure an injunction against him. Mr X disagrees with what the officer said in papers prepared for the court.
- The exceptions at paragraphs 3 and 4 apply to Mr X’s complaint. We cannot investigate matters which have been discussed in court, or complaints about matters linked to court action. This includes the content of reports written as part of court proceedings. If Mr X wanted to challenge the content of the Council’s report, then he should have done so in court. Mr X’s complaint is not one we can consider.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we cannot consider complaints linked to court proceedings.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman