Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about fees the Council charged for a s106 legal agreement. There is not enough evidence of fault causing injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council charged him excessive legal fees to draft a s106 legal agreement and poorly handled his complaint.

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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 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to us in January 2025. He says he first complained to the Council about an invoice in June 2023. I will not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint because it is late. There are no good reasons why Mr X could not have come to us within 12 months.
8. Mr X’s complaint about any invoice received in 2024 is in time. However, I will not investigate because there is not enough evidence of fault causing injustice.
9. Government guidance says applicants do not have to agree to a proposed planning obligation, such as a s106 legal agreement, however this may lead to a refusal of planning permission – a decision that carries a right of appeal.
10. In its complaint response, the Council said it told Mr X that he would have to pay legal fees for a s106 agreement, and that planning permission may be refused in the absence of this agreement. This information is in line with the government guidance. It was up to Mr X to decide whether to enter into this agreement. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating.
11. It is reasonable to expect Mr X’s solicitor to have challenged any fees Mr X was unhappy about at the time. I cannot hold the Council responsible for any injustice Mr X could have avoided if his solicitor had taken action. Therefore, I will not investigate.
12. Further, the Legal Ombudsman is better placed to consider complaints about solicitor’s fees.
13. It would not be a good use of public money to look at the Council’s complaint handling in isolation.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman