As a small business,can I take a local Council to the Small Claims Court ?

MattMattMattUK

ripple11 said:

Is it possible to take the Council to the Small Claims Court? (up to the 10K limit)

I am banging my head against a brick wall in a lengthy dispute regarding not receiving a certain Covid relief that other very similar businesses have received .I will probably appeal to the Ombudsman , but if they are not interested, I wish to have a day in court and listen to them try and defend their discriminatory position!
 My only concern is that if I lose , quite possibly, can substantial costs be awarded against me/my business? as no doubt they will want to defend will solicitors /time spent preparing etc. 
I don't mind some reasonable costs .....but I don't want to be facing a claim if thousands!

All Covid payments and relief offered by local councils was discretionary. What is the legal basis that you plan to try to claim against them?

ripple11

Potential the amount should be just over 10k...but I would be very happy with 10K...might that be a problem?


The justification is "your sector is not on the list we have drawn up and we are not going to change it"

The list is flawed imho because our sector/business is/was one of the hardest hit by Covid.

The Council policy says.....

"to provide relief to those businesses affected by the pandemic which were ineligible for existing support"

Furthermore their policy states ; 

 Each case will be considered strictly on its own merits and all ratepayers will be treated equally and fairly when the scheme is administered."

Exactly the same businesses as us have received this relief from neighbouring Councils so I feel our Council have failed us badly and don't see why they should get away with this without us putting up a fight.

MattMattMattUK

ripple11 said:

Potential the amount should be just over 10k...but I would be very happy with 10K...might that be a problem?


The justification is "your sector is not on the list we have drawn up and we are not going to change it"

The list is flawed imho because our sector/business is/was one of the hardest hit by Covid.

The Council policy says.....

"to provide relief to those businesses affected by the pandemic which were ineligible for existing support"

Furthermore their policy states ; 

 Each case will be considered strictly on its own merits and all ratepayers will be treated equally and fairly when the scheme is administered."

Exactly the same businesses as us have received this relief from neighbouring Councils so I feel our Council have failed us badly and don't see why they should get away with this without us putting up a fight.

On that basis I do not think you have a claim, remember a claim needs a legal basis.

You can pay for legal advice and I certainly would before I tried to take a council to court. It would be interesting to know their feedback after you have spoken to them. 

[Deleted User]

The small claims court does not have the power to decide how the council should have exercised it's discretion and cannot rule whether or not your business should have been awarded a grant.

If you pursue this the council's legal department will ask the small claims court to strike out your claim as that court does not have jurisdiction.

DE_612183

have you contacted your MP?
Or your local councillor?

user1977

If your claim is that the council exercised their discretion unlawfully or irrationally when they drew up their policy, then it's a judicial review of that decision you want, which is megabucks.

ripple11

Thanks for the feedback. 
I thought it might be a dubious legal basis....but i just want to have my public say, rather them hide behind faceless emails
My councillor is on my side but he's in a different party to the ruling party and so doesn't seem to have much sway. 
Waiting for MP reply. Expecting "its a council matter"

outtatune

ripple11 said:

Thanks for the feedback. 
I thought it might be a dubious legal basis....but i just want to have my public say, rather them hide behind faceless emails
My councillor is on my side but he's in a different party to the ruling party and so doesn't seem to have much sway. 
Waiting for MP reply. Expecting "its a council matter"

I thought you were concerned about the possibility of having to pay the council's costs?

If there's one thing that annoys courts into awarding costs, it's meritless litigation persued only for grandstanding purposes.

The place to have your public say is the local paper, not the court.

ripple11

outtatune said:

ripple11 said:

Thanks for the feedback. 
I thought it might be a dubious legal basis....but i just want to have my public say, rather them hide behind faceless emails
My councillor is on my side but he's in a different party to the ruling party and so doesn't seem to have much sway. 
Waiting for MP reply. Expecting "its a council matter"

I thought you were concerned about the possibility of having to pay the council's costs?

If there's one thing that annoys courts into awarding costs, it's meritless litigation persued only for grandstanding purposes.

The place to have your public say is the local paper, not the court.

Thanks, that's fair enough.
 A judicial review is the correct way forward but obviously not feasible, so just exploring any other limited options of holding a Council to account, where they have to come out and explain their decisions. As I believe they owe me money, I wanted to look into the court option.
Having engaged the local Ombudsman in the past, I don't hold out a lot of hope for "justice" ,but will also go down that route .

user1977

ripple11 said:

outtatune said:

ripple11 said:

Thanks for the feedback. 
I thought it might be a dubious legal basis....but i just want to have my public say, rather them hide behind faceless emails
My councillor is on my side but he's in a different party to the ruling party and so doesn't seem to have much sway. 
Waiting for MP reply. Expecting "its a council matter"

I thought you were concerned about the possibility of having to pay the council's costs?

If there's one thing that annoys courts into awarding costs, it's meritless litigation persued only for grandstanding purposes.

The place to have your public say is the local paper, not the court.

A judicial review is the correct way forward but obviously not feasible, so just exploring any other limited options of holding a Council to account, where they have to come out and explain their decisions.

Well, how was the decision made? If it was at a committee meeting then that was the venue to hear the discussions and make any representations.