Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the conduct of Council employees and contractors. It is too late for us to consider some of his complaints. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating the other issues. There are also other organisations better placed to consider Mr X’s concerns.

The complaint

1. Mr X has various concerns about the conduct of individual Council employees or employees of organisations the Council commissions to complete work on its behalf. Mr X has complained about the conduct of his ex-wife and her colleagues who are employees of a Council commissioned contractor. He has also complained about the conduct of employees for another Council contractor, for whom he previously worked. Mr X also believes the Council has ignored his safeguarding concerns about specific employees continuing to work with children. He wants the Council to award him compensation for the distress caused to him and his family by its staff and contractors.

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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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

5. When we find fault, we can recommend remedies for significant personal injustice, or to prevent future injustice, caused by that fault. We look at organisational fault, not individual professional competence. Decisions about individual’s fitness to practise or work are for the organisations concerned, and for professional regulators, not the Ombudsman. (Local Government Act 1974, s26(1) and s26A(1) as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X’s complains about the conduct of individual employees, including his ex-wife, at the Council funded facility. The Council issued its final response to Mr X’s complaint in early October 2024 and signposted him to us if he remained dissatisfied.
9. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. Any issues Mr X continues to have about the Council’s handling of this issue occurred more than 12 months before he brought his complaint to us in March 2026. His complaint to us is now too late for us to consider and I have seen no good reasons why it could not have been brought to us sooner. Because of this we will not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint.
10. The Council has explained to Mr X that individuals working for his previous employer are contractors working on its behalf. It has confirmed there are exemptions in place which allow these contractors to disregard parking restrictions, such as double yellow lines, where necessary to safely park work vehicles. The Council advised Mr X that his concerns about staff behaviour had been referred to the commissioned company to consider and respond to under its own complaint procedures.
11. We will not investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint because There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in its handling of Mr X’s concerns about the contractor’s employees. In both the above cases, the Council has advised Mr X to report any allegations of harassment to the police.
12. The Council has asked Mr X for further evidence to support his safeguarding concerns about individual Council employees. It has noted Mr X’s reasonable adjustments and assigned this matter to a specialist lead Officer to help Mr X with providing the evidence he has. Mr X has not yet met with the assigned Officer or provided any evidence to the Council. In the absence of this, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of this matter to justify us investigating.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because some issues are late and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating the rest.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman