Summary: I have discontinued Mr C’s complaint that the Council failed to properly investigate his reports of harassment by his private landlord because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr C, complains about how the Council dealt with his report of harassment by his private landlord.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have spoken to Mr C and considered information he sent me.
5. I have considered the Council’s complaint responses to Mr C.
6. I have also sent a draft version of this decision statement to both parties and invited their comments.

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What I found

7. Mr C lives in a property owned by a private landlord.
8. In September 2017, Mr C contacted the Council and asked it to investigate harassment from his landlord. Mr C said that since 2016, the landlord had picked on him, made threats and damaged his property.
9. In September 2018, Mr C complained to the Council. He said he was dissatisfied with how the Council had dealt with the matter and accused council officers of ignoring his correspondence and collaborating with his landlord.
10. The Council did not uphold Mr C’s complaint. It explained if he disagreed with its decision, he could contact the Ombudsman.
11. In July 2019, Mr C contacted the Ombudsman and asked him to investigate his complaint.
12. Having considered Mr C’s complaint, the issues go back to 2017. Mr C complained to the Council within 12 months but took some ten months to bring the complaint to the Ombudsman.
13. Mr C has not provided any evidence as to why he could not have brought this matter to the Ombudsman sooner. For this reason, I consider the complaint to be late, and I do not propose to investigate this further.

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Final decision

14. I have discontinued my investigation into this complaint because it is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman