Swindon Borough Council (18 018 173)

Category : Other Categories > Land

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 26 Jun 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr Y complains the Council have failed to respond to his claim for compensation under the Land Compensation Act 1973 for four years. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as it is unlikely we would find fault, or any investigation would lead to a different outcome. Also, the Land Tribunal is better placed to consider the complaint and Mr Y has brought the complaint late, without good reason.

The complaint

  1. Mr Y has tried to claim for compensation under the Land Compensation Act 1973 for four years. He complains the Council has not responded to his claim and his more recent correspondence.
  2. Mr Y says this has caused him frustration and has delayed his claim.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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)
  3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
  • it is unlikely we would find fault, or
  • it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
  • there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

  1. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
  2. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I reviewed the details of the complaint provided by Mr Y and comments from the Council.
  2. I wrote to Mr Y and the Council with my draft decision and gave them an opportunity to comment before making my final decision.

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What I found

  1. The Land Compensation Act assists people who have had their property devalued by a highway or various other larger scale projects. It allows those affected to claim for compensation.
  2. A housing development was built opposite Mr Y’s home in 2015. Mr Y says he made a claim to the Council under the Act for the disruption caused, including the large number of contractors’ vehicles parking near his home. He says he sent his claim to the Council about four years ago.
  3. Mr Y employed a chartered surveyor to track and progress his claim. The surveyor wrote to Mr Y in July 2018, saying he had been unable to track Mr Y’s claim, partly as Mr Y did not have a reference number. Mr Y has confirmed he does not have copies of any papers he has sent the Council about his claim.
  4. Mr Y began contacting the Council through a web form on its website in October 2018 but has not had a full response.
  5. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had no records of Mr Y’s claim which it could provide the Ombudsman. It said such claim would be a legal matter for a court to consider.
  6. The Council holds no records for Mr Y or his claim. It would be difficult to investigate this complaint and potentially recommend a different outcome due to the lack of documents available.
  7. Mr Y can take his claim to the Land Tribunal if he wishes to continue the matter. The Land Tribunal considers disputes about land and its value and is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider Mr Y’s claim for compensation.
  8. It has now been over four years since Mr Y says he referred his claim to the Council. This means his complaint is late. From the information provided there are no good reasons why the complaint could not have been made within 12 months.
  9. For these reasons the Ombudsman will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint. As we cannot investigate the substantive issue, the Ombudsman should not investigate the handling of Mr Y’s complaint.

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Final decision

  1. I have not investigated this complaint as it is unlikely we would find fault or that any investigation will lead to a different outcome. Mr Y can also take his claim to the Land Tribunal if he wishes. His complaint is also late without good reasons for this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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