The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to enable his business to get suitable traffic access, and the Commission for New Towns allowed land to be developed which caused flooding on his land in the 1980s and 1990s. The complaint about the Council is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now. We did not have jurisdiction to investigate complaints about the defunct Commission for New Towns.
The complaint
Mr X owns a site with various commercial businesses. He complains: the Council failed to enable his business to secure suitable traffic access in the 1980s and 1990s; the Commission for New Towns allowed land to be developed which caused flooding of properties on his land.
Mr X says the Council’s actions led to financial losses and to him losing his home because of the impacts on his business. He says the flooding required him to do work on his land to take the water away from the properties. Mr X wants help to recoup the losses he has made over many years, and advice and support.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the defunct Commission for New Towns. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mr X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We expect people to complain to us within 12 months of them becoming aware of the matter complained of. If a complaint is made after that 12 month period, it is late. We may investigate late complaints but only if we consider there are good reasons for us to do so.
The events involving the Council which Mr X has complained of in 2022 happened in the 1980s and 1990s. He was aware of the matters at the time, so his complaints are late. There is no good reason for us to investigate them now. This is because given the passage of time, we are unlikely to be able to make a finding now. Furthermore, the significant claimed financial and property losses involved would be most suited for consideration by the courts, not our complaint process. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaints about the Council.
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Commission for New Towns. The Commission was abolished in 2009. When it did exist, it was a national government body which was not within our jurisdiction. Even if this part of the complaint had been brought to us at the time, we could not have investigated it because we had no powers to do so.
I realise Mr X has come to us for support and advice. But we are an impartial complaint-handling body and do not provide support on either complainants’ or councils’ cases. We are also not a service which can give advice or guidance on how to recoup historical business investment or other losses and expenses they claim are the fault of a council or another body. Mr X may want to seek his own independent legal advice if he wishes to pursue these matters.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because: the complaint about the Council is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now; and we did not have powers to investigate complaints about the now-abolished Commission for New Towns.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman