Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the end of a volunteering opportunity in February 2016. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X says the Council bullied him and stopped him working as a volunteer.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

What happened

5. Mr X worked as a volunteer doing gardening. He worked very hard and says he transformed the area. In early 2016 the Council took the land back to use for its own purposes. This meant the land was no longer available for use by volunteers. Mr X continued to do voluntary work at the site until September 2016.
6. The Council invited Mr X to do voluntary work at a different site.
7. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to stop him doing voluntary work. He says he was bullied into leaving and feels the way the voluntary work ended was not right. Mr X feels very upset about what happened and how the Council treated him.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. The Council told Mr X in 2016 that the volunteering opportunity was no longer available and he last worked at the site in September 2016. But Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until September 2020. I have not seen any good reason to investigate a complaint which is four years old. In addition, the Council told Mr X that it needed the land for other purposes which is why it asked him to leave. However, it signposted Mr X to volunteering projects at different sites.

Back to top

Final decision

9. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman