Mansfield District Council (21 015 119)
Category : Other Categories > Commercial and contracts
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Feb 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in completing the surrender and reassignment of a lease. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is made too late.
The complaint
- The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council delayed in the surrender and assignment of a lease in 2019.
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 the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has known of the delay since 2019. The complaint is therefore more than 2 months late. I have seen no reason why he could not have complained to us earlier.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman