The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council agreeing to a week of disruptive overnight work in March 2021. This is because the complaint is late. We have not exercised discretion to consider the complaint as there are no good reasons for why Mr X could not have brought the complaint to us sooner.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has not been supportive of residents’ concerns about HS2 works that affect them. He says the Council agreed to a week of disruptive overnight work for HS2 in March 2021 without consulting or telling residents.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council recently considered Mr X’s complaint about its decision to allow overnight works for HS2 to take place. Therefore, Mr X has complained within 12 months of receiving the Council’s final complaint response.
However, Mr X was aware of the Council’s decision to allow the overnight works since March 2021. Further, Mr X has acknowledged he did not complain about the matter at the time even though he was aware of the issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as the complaint is late. We will not exercised discretion to consider this late complaint as there are no good reasons for why Mr X could not have brought the complaint to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman