London Borough of Bromley (24 023 415)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Jun 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council poorly resurfaced the highway outside her property. This is because this complaint is late.
The complaint
- Mr Y complains, on behalf of Ms X, about the Council’s resurfacing of the road outside Ms X’s property in 2021. He says, after heavy rain, water runs off the resurfaced road and pools between the highway and Ms X’s property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr Y’s complaint about the Council’s resurfacing of the road in 2021 is late. This is because he did not complain to the Ombudsman about this issue until March 2025. There are no good reasons to exercise discretion.
- Mr Y’s more recent complaint about the Council’s handling of his reports of rainwater pooling between the road and Ms X’s property is premature. There are no good reasons to exercise discretion. Mr Y may raise this complaint with the Council. If he remains unhappy with its response, it is open to Mr Y to make a new complaint to us.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council poorly resurfaced the highway outside her property. This is because this complaint is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman