Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway repairs. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate the issues now.

The complaint

1. Ms X, a homeowner, complains about repair works a Council contractor carried out in 2016 to maintain a footpath near her property. She complains the repair works caused damage to a fence, which she has since had to replace.
2. Ms X, who is Disabled, complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint and its failure to make reasonable adjustments when accessing its complaints process.

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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)
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Ms X complains about the actions of a Council contractor in 2016. This complaint is late because Ms X did not complain to the Ombudsman about this matter until late 2025. She could have complained to us much sooner if she wished for us to consider such historic issues. There are no good reasons for us to investigate them now. So, we will not investigate this part of the complaint.
9. It is not a good use of our limited resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone when we are not considering the core issues. Any separable injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. For these reasons, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of Ms X’s complaint and reasonable adjustments.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about highway repairs. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate the issues now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman