Summary: Mr X complains the Council wrongly seized his tattooing equipment. We will not investigate this complaint because the events happened too long ago.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly seized his tattooing equipment several years ago.
2. Mr X says the Court struck out the Council’s case against him in 2018 but the Council continues to pursue him for the cost of the equipment seizure.

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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 information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I considered the complainant’s comments on my draft decision before making a final decision.

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My assessment

7. The law says we should not investigate late complaints without good reason.
8. Mr X says he was not aware of the Ombudsman at the time. However, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to the Council about its actions when it seized his equipment and then contact us much sooner than he did. There are no good reasons to set aside the restriction outlined in paragraph three above and accept this late complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because the events happened too long ago.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman