Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to place restrictions on how she contacted it. This is because her complaint is made late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council’s decision to place restrictions on how she contacted it was unfair.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council wrote to Mrs X in May 2024 informing her that it was placing restrictions on her contact under its Unreasonable Contact and Customer Behaviour Policy. It informed Mrs X how she could escalate the matter to the Ombudsman. Mrs X feels the Council’s decision was unfair.
7. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is made late and I see no good reason why she could not have raised the matter with us sooner.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is made late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman