Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions relating to the electoral register. This is because Mr X has an alternative legal remedy with the courts to address his main complaint, and it would be reasonable for him to use that remedy. Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in 2013 is late.

The complaint

1. Mr X said the Council was wrong to remove him from the electoral register and to continually contact him about the same matter. He said he wants to be re-instated on the register and for the Council to stop contacting him about this matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
3. 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

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

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My assessment

5. The council has a legal role in administering the electoral roll in the UK. This includes the appointment of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who have a responsibility to maintain the electoral register. The council must ensure that the register is up-to-date and that individuals are registered to vote. The council also has the responsibility to conduct annual checks to update the register.
6. ERO’s have the power to request information from a person about any aspect in relation to their entitlement to be on the register. And if a person does not respond to a request, they can receive a fine.
7. Mr X complained to us about the Council’s decision to remove him from the electoral register in 2013. I will not consider a complaint about that decision, because it is late and I have not seen evidence of good reasons why Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. This is particularly so, because when he raised this as a complaint to us initially in 2024, we told him he needed first to complain to the Council. He then did not come back to us until September 2026.
8. Mr X said the matters are still ongoing. The only actions I could consider, because of the restriction in law that I have referred to at paragraph three, are those that happened after September 2025, which is 12 months from the time Mr X complained to us again.
9. Mr X said he wants to be on the register and for the Council to stop contacting him about this. If Mr X has a complaint about the Council’s refusal to place him on the register, he must first appeal this to the Registration Officer at the Council. Once he has done this, if he is unhappy with the Council’s decision, then he has a right to appeal the Council’s decision, to the County Court.
10. In any case, because of the Council’s duty in relation to the register, which I have now highlighted, we could not tell the Council to not have any contact with him about this matter.
11. Because Mr X has an appeal right about the main part of his complaint, and only the court can decide if the Council’s decision is right or wrong, it would be reasonable for him to use his appeal right. Therefore, I will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has an appeal right which is reasonable for him to use and part of his complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman