Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to provide information in 2013. The complaint is late, and we have seen no good reason to exercise our discretion to investigate.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains for her client Mr Y. She says the Council failed to disclose information to Mr Y when he bought a property in 2013. She says it provided the information in 2019.
2. Ms X says the Council is responsible for Mr Y’s financial losses. He is seeking compensation of £120,000.

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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 information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X says Mr Y sought information from the Council in 2013 before buying a property. She says he did not receive a response despite making many requests.
8. However, Ms X has not provided any evidence of Mr Y’s requests (which were made to a former authority that no longer exists) and the Council says it has no record of them.
9. In 2019, the Council provided information to Mr Y in response to a subject access request made under the UK General Data Protection Regulations. It says the information was held in files of a former district council which was abolished in 2009 and its function passed to the Council.
10. Ms X also refers to applications for Certificates of lawfulness of existing use or development which were approved by the Council. She says errors by the Council enabled a parish council to seek judicial review of the approvals, causing Mr Y to incur significant financial losses.
11. The matters and events Ms X refers to occurred more than 12 months ago. Mr X became aware of the relevant information in 2019. The complaint is therefore late. I have seen no reason why he could not have complained to the Ombudsman at that time.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is late, and the restriction detailed on paragraph four applies. We have seen no reason why Mr Y could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman