Liverpool City Council (19 017 086)
Category : Environment and regulation > Health and safety
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to deal with various environmental health issues he says are related to his neighbour. This is because the complaint is late and there is no reason Mr X could not have complained to the Ombudsman much earlier.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has failed to deal with various environmental health issues he says are related to his neighbour. Mr X says there have been issues for twenty years.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X says he has reported various environmental health issues to the Council which are linked to his neighbour’s behaviour – these include problems with rats. Mr X says the Council has not acted and there have been issues for twenty years.
- The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. I see no reason why Mr X could not have complained much earlier, and so the exception at paragraph 3 applies to his complaint.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there is no reason Mr X could not have complained to the Ombudsman much earlier.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman