Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the mishandling and mismanagement of flood issues at a surface water outlet near the complainant’s home. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The complaint is late and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says that since late-2013 there has been chronic mishandling by the Council (and other bodies/organisations) of flood issues at a surface water outlet near his home. He says the constant mismanagement of his complaint by the parties involved has resulted in the situation becoming worse over the years, with flooding of his garden during moderate to extreme rainfall events.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, which included complaint correspondence from August/September 2020 and December 2021.
4. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The 12-month time restriction detailed in paragraph 2 above applies to Mr X’s complaint. This is because he has been aware of his concerns about flooding from the outlet since late-2013, and he contacted the Council about this during the intervening years. This culminated in Mr X making a formal complaint to the Council in August 2020. It replied in September 2020, and signposted Mr X to the Ombudsman. He did not contact us until December 2021. I see no reasons why Mr X was prevented from contacting us sooner, so I do not consider we should investigate this late complaint now.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late, and I see no reasons to exercise discretion to consider the matter now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman