7 August 2017

Mr

GRIMSBY
DN32

Our ref: 17 003 081

(Please quote our reference when contacting us and, if using email, put the number in the email subject line)

If telephoning please contact: 0330 403 4057

email address: R.Draper@coinweb.lgo.org.uk

Dear Mr

Complaint against North East Lincolnshire Council

The Ombudsman has asked me to review Ms Goochs decision on your complaint to make sure
this was justified by the evidence.

Ms Gooch has the delegated authority of the Ombudsman to make decisions for him. Those
decisions carry the same weight in law as decisions made by the Ombudsman himself. They can
only be challenged by judicial review. There is no right of appeal, but we offer one internal review
to consider whether the decision has been made.

I have reviewed the file and looked carefully at the extra comments you have sent. I recognise this
may disappoint you, but I support the decision to close your complaint and I will explain why.

But first, I will say for the record and to avoid doubt I am not the Mr Draper referred to in the court
service letter to you dated 6 April 2017, nor do I know of him.

Your new argument is the Council is at fault in not seeking to quash the 2015 liability order
because the court service has upheld your complaint about the service you received from the
courts in 2012/13. You have also repeated many of your arguments about the court proceedings
and the Councils references to them which are not directly relevant to the Ombudsmans
consideration of your complaint.

The court service complaint response makes it clear it has not dealt (and could not deal) with any
judicial decisions. Nor have you said your appeal against the 2012 costs of 60 succeeded. We
have seen no evidence which has a causal link between the relevant events to create any reason

PO Box 4771 www.lgo.org.uk

Coventry
CV4 0E1 0300 061 0614
for the Council to apply to set aside the 2015 liability order. I am satisfied Ms Gooch has properly
considered your complaint and I must agree with her reasons for not investigating it.

So, Ms Goochs decision will stand.

Our procedures allow for one review of a decision, which I have now done. This completes our
internal review and the decision is final.

The only way to challenge the decision further is by seeking a judicial review in the High Court.
Please take some advice before considering such action as the Ombudsman must as a publicly
funded body seek to recover the costs of defending unsuccessful applications.

The case remains closed and we shall not write about or discuss it further because we cannot
justify the cost of continuing to communicate with people whose cases we have closed. We shall
note any further contact from you, but we will not acknowledge it or reply unless it clearly
contains new information which we decide has a bearing on our decision.

This does not stop you from complaining to us about a new matter in the future.

Yours sincerely

Rob Draper
Assessment Team Leader