Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has deal with matters relating to a listed building the complainant owns. This is because some matters happened too long go and more recent matters are subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council has dealt with matters relating to a listed building he owns.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X owns a listed building which was damaged by fire several years ago. In 2020, Mr X complained to the Ombudsman that the Council were trying to recoup costs for repairs it had carried out to the building. We told Mr X his complaint was premature, and he would need to first raise these matters with the Council.
8. In September 2022, the Council issued Mr X with a notice under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 after it concluded that Mr X had carried out unauthorised work to the building. In March, the Council issued a court summons to Mr X and the case is due to be heard in the Crown Court.
9. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in regards to it trying to recoup costs for repairs to the building. This is because these events happened too long ago and I see no reason why Mr X could not have returned to the Ombudsman sooner.
10. I cannot investigate the Council’s recent actions. This is because these matters are subject to ongoing court proceedings which places them outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because some matters are late and others are subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman