Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his claim for damages resulting from a highway disrepair matter. This is because Mr X has taken court action against the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of his claim relating to a highway disrepair matter. He is also unhappy with the information provided by the Council during his claim.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if the person has already been to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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)
5. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and assessed it in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1974. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and discussed it with him.

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What I found

7. Mr X took court action against the Council in relation to a highway disrepair matter in 2018. The action took some 18 months to conclude. Mr X is unhappy with the information provided by the Council during his claim and about the fact he had to obtain photos of the defect by standing in a busy road. He was not satisfied with the reports provided by the Council and says he has recently submitted a ‘freedom of information’ request which the Council has not responded to.
8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. Because Mr X has taken court action against the Council we have no jurisdiction in relation to anything in connection with, or having a bearing on, his claim. We also cannot provide a remedy for the impact the court case has had on Mr X or for his worry about the legal costs involved.
9. If Mr X believes the Council has failed to respond properly to his freedom of information request it would be reasonable for him to put this issue to the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner is better placed to determine whether the Council has fulfilled its obligations and I have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for Mr X to refer the matter to them.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has taken court action against the Council and we cannot look at the impact of this action on him.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman