LGO attacks Brighton & Hove after "significant failure" in bankruptcy procedure

The Local Government Ombudsman this week criticised Brighton & Hove City Council for operating a “flawed” bankruptcy procedure after it bankrupted a woman – ‘Ms Lowe’ (not her real name) – for unpaid council tax and parking fines even though she was already known to its adult social care department.

The Ombudsman, Tony Redmond, said: “I do not criticise the council’s general policy in this case. It included a requirement to check whether the person might be vulnerable. On balance, however, I would say that the absence of a requirement to check specifically with Adult Social Care meant that the application of the policy was flawed, and was a significant failure in the procedure.”

Ms Lowe had not responded to attempts by Brighton & Hove to contact her, whether by letter or calls in person to her home. The local authority’s procedure required it to consider whether a debtor was vulnerable, but not to check with its adult social care team.

The complainant had been in touch with adult social care, but no assessment had yet been carried out. She said that at the time she was mentally unwell and unable to deal with her affairs.

The Ombudsman suggested that had Brighton & Hove’s recovery officers discovered that Ms Lowe was known to their colleagues in adult social care, it is possible that they would not have pursued backruptcy. However, the Ombudsman could not decide that definitely would have been the case.

He therefore ruled that the council’s maladministration caused an injustice to Ms Lowe only in terms of the uncertainty as to whether the outcome might have been different. The Ombudsman called on Brighton & Hove to pay the complainant £250 compensation and apologise for the failure in its procedure.