Shropshire Council (25 002 450)
Category : Other Categories > Leisure and culture
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
The complaint
- Miss X complains that the Council’s leisure centre charged her £500 for a period when her grandson was not receiving swimming lessons. She also says staff were rude and have ignored her during the complaints process. Miss X says this caused her a financial loss and she is seeking an apology and a £500 refund.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X says her grandson was enrolled in swimming lessons at the local leisure centre. After his first lesson, staff told her he would need to move to the next group and that they would contact her when a space became available. Miss X says she was never contacted but continued to be charged until she cancelled the direct debit in December 2023. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in May 2025.
- The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished 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.
- I will not investigate this complaint because it is a late complaint. I acknowledge the Council did not always respond to Miss X in time, but I am not satisfied, this is a good enough reason for Miss X not to have raised the matter with us earlier. and certainly within 12 months of the concern arising.
- Nor will we look at the Council’s handling of the complaint as 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.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has known about the matter for over 12 months, therefore it is a late complaint, and I have not seen any good reason to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman