Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions the Council has taken in relation to the complainant’s property. This is because parts of the complaint are late. The issues raised have also been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about the action the Council has taken in relation to a building he owns. He says the Council has been dishonest, failed to properly communicate with him and wrongly taken enforcement action against him. Mr X says he believes the Council is trying to take ownership of his property through deception.

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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 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)
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 have considered Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered his comments in response.

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What I found

6. In 2015, the Council served Mr X with an enforcement notice requiring him to carry out works to a property he owned as it said the building was unsafe. Mr X disputed the works were necessary or urgent. He said the Council failed to properly correspond with him about the matter and ignored evidence which showed the building was structurally sound.
7. The Council eventually arranged for the works to be carried out to the building and charged Mr X the cost. Mr X says the amount charged by the Council was excessively high and believes its intention has always been to take control of the property.

Assessment

8. I will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council in relation to a building Mr X owns. This is because parts of the complaint are late. The matter has also been subject to legal proceedings and therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
9. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. The issues Mr X complained about started in 2012 and enforcement action was taken in 2015. Therefore, I consider the complaints about these matters late. I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate as Mr X could have complained to the Ombudsman sooner.
10. Mr X has also complained about the amount the Council says he owes for the works. However, this matter has been subject to legal proceedings and the Ombudsman cannot investigate issues already considered by the courts.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because parts of the complaint are late. The matter has also been subject to legal proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman