The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant a pontoon license to a private company which has led to a slipway being obstructed. This is because the complaint is late. Even if we were to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint, we would not investigate as it will not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant a pontoon license to a private company. He says this resulted in the company obstructing a slipway with a pontoon.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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) The Ombudsman investigates 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. We do not start an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complains about a pontoon blocking access to a slipway. The Council granted planning permission and license for the pontoons in 2011.
We will not consider any complaint about the Council’s decision to grant the planning permission or pontoon license as it is late and there are no good reasons for why Mr X could not have complained about the decisions earlier.
The Council confirmed it has reached an agreement with the private organisation to remove a section of the floating pontoon, the width of the slipway, to allow access. This work will start on or shortly after April 2023.
Therefore, in any case, even if we were to exercise discretion to consider this late complaint, we would not investigate as we would not be able to achieve anything further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late. However, even if we were to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint, we would not investigate as it will not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman