Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of the preparation of a lease relating to the erection of signage on its land. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to pursue a court remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains there was poor judgement and a lack of duty of care by the Council during their lease negotiations for the erection signage on Council land. He says these actions, as well as the Council’s subsequent removal of the signage he erected on the land, and its refusal to enter into further discussions, have had a huge financial impact on him.
2. Mr X also accuses the Council of defamation of character in a statement it made to the Police, and also in the officer’s report on his planning application for an alternative signage arrangement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not directly caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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5. And 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)
6. The law also 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)
7. Finally, the law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X.
• information about Mr X’s advertisement planning applications.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The 12-month time restriction detailed in paragraph 5 above would apply to any parts of the complaint about matters Mr X was aware of prior to 2024. I see no reasons why Mr X would have been prevented from contacting us sooner, so we will not investigate any such matters now.
10. And if Mr X believes the Council is liable for the financial/economic losses he says he has incurred, I consider it reasonable for him to take the matter to court. This is because we cannot adjudicate in claims of such losses, particularly where there is a dispute about liability arising from a lease agreement, and we cannot award damages or compensation. These are matters for the courts. With reference to the restriction detailed in paragraph 6 above, we will therefore not investigate Mr X’s complaint for this reason too.
11. And even if these restrictions did not apply, we are unlikely to be able to conclude the claimed injustice flows directly and wholly from the alleged faults by the Council, given that:
• Mr X proceeded with works at the site before the lease agreement with the Council was completed.
• The owner of the existing hoarding on the boundary of the adjoining land raised concerns with Mr X about his proposals. Mr X did not forward this information to the Council, and he proceeded with the works at the site instead.
12. We have not investigated any parts of the complaint about the alleged defamation of character by the Council. With reference to paragraph 7 above, this is because Mr X does not appear to have raised this particular matter with the Council via its complaints process yet. I consider it reasonable to expect him to do so. Mr X can pursue a new complaint with the Ombudsman once he has received the Council’s final response on this matter.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint primarily because it is reasonable to expect him to pursue a court remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman