London Borough of Islington (26 013 396)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to pay a compensation payment. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now.
The complaint
- Miss X complained the Council offered her compensation in 2023 for a previous complaint, but it did not pay it.
- Miss X said this caused her a financial impact.
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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X complained she did not receive compensation the Council had offered her. This was part of a resolution to an earlier complaint in 2023.
- Miss X said she responded to accept the compensation within three hours, but the Council said it did not receive her acceptance.
- Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in July 2026.
- I have considered whether there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider Miss X's complaint. The law, explained in paragraph four, says we should not investigate late complaints. I acknowledge Miss X's comments about why she was unable to raise the matter sooner, but this does not displace the expectation in law that we will not investigate late complaints.
- There are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider this complaint now and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman