Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a private housing matter. The complaint relates to matters from more than 12 months ago and so is late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not properly act on his concerns about disrepair, safety and management of a private property he rented.
2. Mr X said this caused distress and a homelessness crisis.
3. Mr X wants us to investigate the Council’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by Mr X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The 12-month period runs from the day the person affected had notice of the matters alleged in the complaint i.e. the actions complained about. The matters Mr X complains about took place between 2008 and 2010.
9. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we may also not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
10. I have considered whether there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider Mr X’s complaint. The law, explained in paragraph five, says we should not investigate late complaints. I acknowledge Mr X’s comments about why he did not feel able to raise these matters sooner, but this does not displace the expectation in law that we will not investigate.
11. We will therefore not investigate this complaint because it is late.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman