The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance because the complaint is late without good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
The complaint
Miss Y complained the Council’s road maintenance has caused her property to flood with rain water and debris from the highway. She is also unhappy with the Council’s handling of her complaint.
Miss Y says her property has been damaged and devalued and she has been unable to sell it because of the issues.
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) It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Miss Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss Y’s property flooded in 2021. She contacted the Council about this in 2021 but did not receive a response. She did not then contact the Council again until 2023. She approached us in August 2023.
The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
Miss Y’s was aware of her reason to complain about the Council’s actions when her property flooded in 2021, more than 12 months ago.
Consequently, her complaint is now late. We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph three where we decide there are good reasons. Miss Y has not provided any good reasons why she did not bring her complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect her to have complained sooner so we will not investigate this complaint.
As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council dealt with the complaint so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because is late without good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman