Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about damage to Ms X’s carpet she says was caused by the Council’s contractors. This is because the events complained about took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained Council contractors cut her carpet when they were carrying out work in line with a disabled facilities grant.
2. Ms X said she has been caused inconvenience by this because she will have to replace the carpet.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In February 2022, the Council’s home solution team arranged for contractors to carry out some work at Ms X’s home after she successfully supplied applied for a disabled facilities grant (DFG).
8. The contractors returned to Ms X’s home several times following this to make adjustments to the completed work

I think you just need a sentence here to confirm when the works were completed as it is not clear.

. Work was completed in early 2022.

9. In February 2023, Ms X complained to the Council because she said the contractors had cut her carpet too short and this had caused damage. She said she would need to replace the carpet.
10. The Council reviewed the evidence Ms X provided and said it looked like Ms X’s wheelchair had caused the damage. The Council told Ms X it could not help her.
11. Ms X wants us to find the Council at fault for the damage to her carpets. We will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months ago unless there are good reasons to do so. The carpet was installed in early 2022 but Ms X did not complain about it until over a year later. It would have been reasonable for Ms X to complain sooner as she has would have been aware of this matterany damage caused to the carpet by the contractors in 2022, when the works were completed. for more than 12 months.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the events complained about took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman