Adur District Council (25 021 969)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to him in 2024 about its communications with third parties. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refused his request that it should only communicate with him and not any other family member.
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 the complainant which includes the Council’s response.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council’s response in 2024 to Mr X noted it used to deal with Mr X’s reports to the Council by liaising with the person who has legal authority for the issues in question. It noted his request and asked him to raise his concerns directly to the responsible parties in future.
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now. Mr X knew in 2024 about the issues he is raising now and it would have been reasonable to expect him to complain within 12 months.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman