Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his request for a new street number. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has delayed by over four months in giving his property a new street number. Mr X says the electricity supply has been cut off because of the issue and he has lost tenants as a result.
2. Mr X complains about a Council Officer’s lack of care and urgency when handling his application. He complains the Council Officer ignored most of the emails he sent and failed to help him when he did not provide the correct information.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. If we were to investigate Mr X’s complaint it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice. This is because the Council accepts it failed to progress his request from July 2025 due to staff shortages affecting its response time. Based on the Council’s Street Naming and Numbering Policy, the Council will respond to such requests within 28 days. But it took until November 2025 before the Council requested a more detailed plan from Mr X so it could progress his request.
8. Based on the evidence I have seen, the Council has made several service improvements, including assembling a new team to address the delays in its street naming and numbering service. It has progressed Mr X’s request, but it is waiting for a more detailed plan from Mr X, and apologised to the complainant, which partly remedies the injustice. However, I do not consider this sufficiently remedies the injustice.
9. We therefore asked to the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by paying Mr X a symbolic payment of £100 to resolve the complaint early.
10. So far as Mr X complains about any delays since the Council progressed his request in November 2025, this complaint is premature. We will not investigate this matter because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to first complain to the Council and give it the chance to investigate and reply. If Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s final response, he may then make a new complaint to the Ombudsman.

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Agreed action

11. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will pay Mr X £100 by 27 April 2026 to put things right.

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Final decision

12. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman