Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has unfairly applied a food regulation in respect of shelf life testing. This is because the complaint is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has unfairly applied a food regulation in respect of shelf-life testing which is impacting on the viability of his business. Mr X does not consider the Council is applying this requirement fairly across the food industry.

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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. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any alleged fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complains that a method the Council advised him to use in late 2019, to determine the shelf life of his products, has meant he has had to reduce their shelf life and that this is impacting on the viability of his business.
8. Mr X considers the Council is not applying this requirement consistently across other businesses in the Council’s area.
9. Mr X has been aware of the issue he complains about since 2019. Mr X complained to us in February 2023 and his complaint is therefore made late to us. While we have discretion to investigate late complaints, I have not seen good reasons as to why we should do so in this case. We will not therefore investigate.
10. It is not clear from the information Mr X has provided as to when he learned that other businesses may have been treated differently. However, this is a matter between those businesses and the Council and does not directly cause Mr X injustice. As such, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late to us and there are not good reasons for us to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman