Summary: Mr X complains the Council lost his passport and national insurance card in 2017. We will not investigate as this complaint is caught by the time bar on our powers. And I see no good reasons Mr X could not have complained to us at the time.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council losing his passport and national insurance card.
2. He says this has affected him ‘very badly’ as he was experiencing housing and financial challenges at that time. He would like the Council to pay compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

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

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My assessment

5. I will not investigate as Mr X has made his complaint late and it is therefore caught by our legal time bar on investigating.
6. I do not see good reasons why Mr X could not have complained to us within 12 months of becoming aware of his complaint matters. I say this especially in view of Mr X being able to seek assistance from the Citizens Advice Bureau about this issue seven years ago.

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Final decision

7. I will not investigate this late complaint. And there are no good reasons for us to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman