Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the lack of an external refuse storage area for Ms X’s flat. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because an investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains that due to fault by the Council during its consideration of a 2016 planning application, her privately owned flat, which she bought in 2020, has no external refuse storage area and she has to keep her waste bin on her balcony.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X complained to the Council that the privately owned flat which she bought in 2020 has no external refuse storage area because the Council had failed to stipulate the provision of such an area when it granted planning permission for building works to the flat in 2016.
8. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Ms X’s complaint because she was aware of the issue at the time she moved in to her property and it is too late for the Ombudsman to consider it now.
9. Moreover, even if the length of time Ms X has been aware of the issue was not a factor, the Council has explained that it has no powers it could use to provide her with an external refuse storage area and it has no obligation to provide for any additional waste collection arrangements. This is clearly disappointing for Ms X but there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because an investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman