Summary: We will not investigate Mr and Mrs Y’s complaints about the Council’s failure to repair damage to their property, failure to resolve a boundary dispute as well as other issues. This is because the complaints are late and it would have been reasonable for Mr and Mrs Y to have brought their complaints to the Ombudsman sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs Y complain:
• the Council has failed to repair damage to their commercial property following a roof leak at the adjoining council-owned property in 2013;
• about damage to the property’s roller shutters being embedded in tarmac following work on the highway in 2013;
• the Council’s failure to resolve a fence and boundary dispute since 2014 between them and the new owner of land previously owned by the Council;
• the Council wrongly revoked a hot food licence for their business in 2015; and
• the Council suspended planning permission at the commercial property in 2018.
2. Mr and Mrs Y say the problems have caused distress, loss of income and inconvenience in having to pursue their complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I considered the information Mr and Mrs Y and the Council provided. Mr and Mrs Y had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Mr and Mrs Y initially complained to the Council about water damage to their property in 2013 from damaged guttering on the neighbouring property which the Council owned. The Council repaired the guttering and the damage to Mr and Mrs Y’s property. In further correspondence, the Council confirmed in 2015 it no longer owned the property. After receiving further complaints from Mr and Mrs Y, the Council asked to access the property to assess any damage, but this was refused in 2015.
7. Mr and Mrs Y complained about damage to shutters on their property following work to a highway. The Council said a third party had completed the work and said it was unable to help in correspondence in 2014, 2015 and again in 2020.
8. Mr and Mrs Y have been in a boundary dispute with the owners of land the Council previously owned. The Council sold the land behind Mr and Mrs Y’s property in 1984. The Council responded to Mr and Mrs Y’s complaints about the boundary issue in 2014 and 2015, explaining it could not help as it no longer owned the land. Following a further complaint from Mr and Mrs Y in 2020, the Council said it had nothing else to add to its previous response.
9. Mr and Mrs Y complained about the expiry of their hot food licence in 2015. The Council provided details of the relevant council officer to discuss the hot food licence. Mr and Mrs Y’s MP raised issues about the hot food licence again in 2017, which the Council responded to. The Council then suspended Mr and Mrs Y’s hot food licence until documents relating to work on the premises had been provided. The Council renewed the licence in May 2019, after Mr and Mrs Y submitted a certificate of lawfulness.
10. Mr and Mrs Y complained to the Council in 2018 that they did not believe planning permission on their commercial property should have been suspended. They said this was because required works had been completed.
11. Mr and Mrs Y approached the Ombudsman to complain about the Council in 2018. The complaint, about a failure to repair water damage and damage to shutters, was referred to the Council to try to resolve. The Council contacted Mr and Mrs Y to try to arrange an inspection of the property in 2018, but permission to access the property was not provided.
12. Mr and Mrs Y then complained to the Council about all the issues in March 2020. The Council responded in July 2020, reiterating its earlier responses. The Council then confirmed its response in August 2020. Mr and Mrs Y asked the Ombudsman to investigate their complaints in September 2020.

Analysis

13. The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
14. Mr and Mrs Y have been aware of the issues they are complaining about for several years, going back to 2013. Mr and Mrs Y have said they did not bring the complaint to the Ombudsman sooner because they wanted the Council to resolve the issues. However, as it is the Ombudsman’s role to investigate such complaints, where a Council is unable to resolve them, it would have been reasonable to expect Mr and Mrs Y to have brought the complaint to the Ombudsman sooner.
15. Although part of the complaint was referred to the Council in 2018 to try to resolve, it would have been reasonable for Mr and Mrs Y to have brought their complaint back to the Ombudsman before 2020. Consequently, there are not good reasons for the Ombudsman to now investigate these complaints.
16. Mr and Mrs Y have also complained about their hot food licence not being renewed. The hot food licence was renewed in May 2019, although they have been aware of problems with the licence being renewed since 2015. It would have been reasonable for Mr and Mrs Y to have brought this complaint to the Ombudsman sooner than August 2020. There are not good reasons for the Ombudsman to now investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and it would have been reasonable to expect them to have brought their complaints to the Ombudsman earlier.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman