Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s claims that the Council has broken the law with regard to a property which is the subject of a legal dispute between the two parties. This is because the tests in our Assessment Code have not been met.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has breached the law in relation to a legal challenge she made in 2017 concerning a property in dispute between the two parties. She says she has been defamed and that the Council must stop the Section 25 action it is taking against her in relation to the property and pay her compensation.

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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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)
6. 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))
7. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant, including the Council’s response to the complaint.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. There is a long running dispute between Ms X and the Council about a property which the Council claims ownership of. It has recently started legal action against Ms X in relation to the property under Section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
11. The restrictions highlighted above at paragraphs 3 and 4 relating to the passage of time and the start of court action apply to Ms X’s complaint and we will not investigate if we think the issues could reasonably be mentioned as part of legal proceedings regarding closely related matters, as applies in this case.
12. Ms X has alleged data protection breaches against the Council, but such a matter is best dealt with by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the body specifically set up to consider such matters.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the tests in our Assessment Code have not been met.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman