London Borough of Merton (19 002 164)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to deal with a complaint about housing he says he raised in 1985. The Ombudsman should not investigate his complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for the Ombudsman to exercise discretion to consider it.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to deal with a complaint about housing he says he raised in 1985.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes limits 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 the information Mr X gave to the Ombudsman in his complaint.
- Mr X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X complained to the Council about events from 1985 when he says the Council failed to provide him with housing due to discrimination.
- The Council said without more detail about the complaint it could not confirm whether it investigated and sent a response to the complaint Mr X said he made in 1985.
- The Council said it would not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was from over 30 years ago and its complaints policy stated complaints must not be over 12 months’ old.
Analysis
- The Local Government Act 1974 requires people to complain to us within 12 months about something a council has done. The events Mr X complains about happened more than 12 months ago. He knew about them in 1985 but has not complained until 2019. The complaint is therefore late.
- The Ombudsman has discretion to investigate late complaints if there are good reasons to do so. I have decided not to exercise discretion in this case. This is because Mr X’s complaint is from so long ago, the Council cannot even find it, we could not be sure we could come to a view on events that happened so long ago.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it is made late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion and consider it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman