The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a lease dispute as it is made late to us and is ultimately a matter for the courts.
The complaint
Mr X complained that since 2016 he has been denied access to parking spaces for which he has a lease with the Council. Mr X wants the Council to buy back the parking spaces from him to bring the matter to a close.
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 ‘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 or continue an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X became aware of this matter in 2016 and last communicated with the Council about it in 2022. Mr X complained to us in May 2024 and his complaint therefore is made late to us, that is, not within a year of him knowing about the problem either initially, or from the date of his last contact with the Council. Mr X has not given good reasons for the lateness of his complaint and as such we will not investigate.
In addition, Mr X’s complaint is a legal dispute about a breach of his lease. Ultimately, only the courts could resolve this; we are not empowered to determine breaches of contracts/leases. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks as we could not recommend the Council takes the action he desires.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late to us and is ultimately a matter for the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman