Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to repair Mr X’s bathroom which was funded by Disabled Facilities Grants. Part of Mr X’s complaint is late. An investigation into the complaint which is in time would not achieve anything for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council is wrongly refusing to take responsibility for the quality of works carried out under Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) between 2011 and 2019. Mr X says his bathroom needs extensive repairs as the works were not fit for purpose. Mr X considers that as a result he will suffer significant financial loss in meeting the cost of the repairs or will have to apply for another DFG which may limit his ability to move house in the future.

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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 investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council granted a DFG to Mr X for works to his bathroom. The works were carried out in 2011. Mr X says that the Council carried out further works under DFGs in 2015 and 2019 as the works carried out in 2011 were not fit for purpose.
7. We will not investigate how the Councill dealt with Mr X’s complaints about the bathroom works and repairs needed between 2011 and 2023. The complaints are late. Mr X was aware of his concerns about the standard of works and the Council’s responses at the time. It is also unlikely we would now be able to carry out a reliable investigation into how the Council dealt with the DFGs and works. This is because the events happened some years ago.
8. Mr X made a complaint to the Council in 2025 about further problems with the bathroom. In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council said it did not have any liability for repairing Mr X’s bathroom. It considered the householder was responsible for repairs and ongoing maintenance following the completion of the works under the DFG.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council reached its decision in 2025 that it does not have a responsibility for the repairs. To decide if there is any fault in how the Council reached its decision, we would have to investigate how the Council dealt with the DFGs and works. As explained above, these works were carried out several years ago so we could not now carry out a reliable investigation. We could not come to a view on whether any fault directly caused the issues Mr X now complains about. So, an investigation would not achieve anything for Mr X.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as part of the complaint is late and we could not achieve anything for him by investigating his in-time complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman