Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about works related to a Disabled Facilities Grant. This is because the complaint is late, and Miss X can take the matter to court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council carried out works to her home in 2023 for her son under the Disabled Facilities Grant, which caused numerous issues to her home.
2. Repairs were completed in March 2025. Miss X would like the Council to reimburse her for the repair costs, and pay for the damage caused and compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6))
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)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. In 2023 the Council provided a Disabled Facilities Grant to install a wet room needed at Miss X’s home for her son.
9. Miss X complains she had issues with the wet room since it was built, and the repairs revealed faults with the original fittings and fixtures.
10. The complaint relates to what happened in 2023 so it is late (see paragraph 4) and there are no good reasons for investigating. The courts could consider the claimed damages and repair costs.
11. While there may be cost implications to court action, that does not automatically make it unreasonable to expect someone to take court action. The questions about whether negligence occurred and, if so, what damage it caused and how to put matters right are not straightforward legally. In the circumstances, this complaint is more properly for the courts than for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and she can take the matter to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman