The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of the hardstanding outside Ms X’s neighbour’s property. The complaint is outside our jurisdiction as it is made too late, and we have seen no reason why the complainant could not have come to us much sooner.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council: failed to correctly assess her neighbour’s hardstanding relied on a policy which was not in place when she made her original complaint in November 2021; and delayed in responding to her complaints.
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 Ms X, including the Council’s responses to her complaints.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The restriction highlighted at paragraph three applies to Ms X’s complaint. She knew of the installation of the hardstanding five years ago. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to have made a complaint to us much sooner. The complaint falls outside our jurisdiction because she was aware of the issue being complained of more than twelve months ago and will not be investigated.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X ’s complaint because the complaint is made too late and is therefore outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman