Birmingham City Council (24 022 363)
Category : Environment and regulation > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 29 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to address a barking dog Ms X has complained about. This is because the complaint is about events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Ms X to bring this complaint to us sooner.
The complaint
- Ms X complained that she told the Council about a dog barking near her home that constituted a statutory nuisance, but it failed to do anything to address the problem.
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 information provided by Ms X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained to the Council in 2021 about a dog barking in her area which was creating a statutory nuisance. Ms X says the Council installed noise monitoring equipment and agreed the barking was a statutory nuisance but failed to take enforcement action.
- Ms X chased the Council for an update for over a year and told the Council she wanted to pursue the matter with the Ombudsman when she did not receive a satisfactory response.
- Ms X has now brought the complaint to us. The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place over 12 months ago unless there are good reasons for the delay. In this case, the evidence shows Ms X has been aware of the complaint issues and the Ombudsman since 2021. It therefore would have been reasonable for her to bring the complaint to us at the time.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is about events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Ms X to bring this complaint to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman