Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s administration of a home improvement grant in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s supervision of a contract between her and a building contractor related to home improvement grant works in 2022. She says the contract ended in 2022 but works are incomplete and she wanted more details about the grant scheme from the Council because she employed another contractor.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X says she applied for a home improvement grant from the Council and signed a contract with a builder in 2021. She was unhappy with the progress and quality of the work and asked the Council to intervene. Because the Council’s roe was limited to supervision of the grant, not the works, there were limits to how much involvement it could have with the contractor. The agreement was between Mrs X and the builder.
6. Mrs X made a formal complaint against the Council and in September 2022 it closed her complaint and advised her to complain to us if she remained dissatisfied. Miss X did not complain to us until July 2024 which is outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints.
7. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

8. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s administration of a home improvement grant in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman