Hampshire County Council (22 004 835)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have ended our investigation into Mr X’s complaint which stems from the Council having not determined a minor works application he submitted in 2018. We do not investigate matters that took place more than 12 months ago if the complainant was aware of them.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council’s processes and procedures in relation to a minor works application he submitted in 2018.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- I can see no reason why Mr X did not complain to us sooner. I do not intend to exercise my discretion to consider a late complaint.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered Mr X’s complaint and spoke to him about it.
- I also considered the Council’s responses to Mr X and information available on the Council website.
- Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
- Mr X’s complaint stems from how the Council handled a minor works application he made in January 2018. The subsequent issues have continued for 5 years.
- Mr X complained to the Council in 2021.
- Much of Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman is about how the Council handled his complaint.
- I see no reason why Mr X did not complain sooner about the substantive issue surrounding the minor works application.
- I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint as the substantive issue is late (Mr X was aware of it more than 12 months ago). I have not investigated his complaint about the Council’s complaint handling as we should not investigate complaint handling if we are not considering the substantive issue.
Final decision
- I have ended my investigation. The substantive issue is late as Mr X was aware of it more than 12 months before he brought the complaint to us.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman