Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay by the Council in issuing the variation to Mr X’s HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licence. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction and because there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council never responded to his request for his complaint about its delay in issuing a variation to his HMO licence to be considered at the second stage of its complaints procedure. He says the delay caused stress and inconvenience which affected his mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council about its delay in issuing a variation to his HMO licence. At Stage 1 of its complaints procedure the Council acknowledged it had delayed. It apologised for this but told Mr X it would not agree to his request that it refund half of his application fee as compensation unless he could show what losses occurred as a result of the delay.
8. In August 2021 Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint as Stage 2 of its complaints procedure and said while it was difficult for him to demonstrate a clear direct financial loss, he had been caused significant inconvenience in having to chase matters and emotional distress.
9. Mr X did not hear from the Council and contacted us about the matter in October 2022.
10. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint. As Mr X could reasonably have complained to us sooner about the matter, we will not exercise discretion to investigate it now. Moreover, even if the complaint had not been made late, we will not investigate it because the injustice caused to Mr X is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction and because there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman