Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of the highway. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X has been complaining since 2018 about rainwater ponding on a pedestrian crossing. He says that this leads to silt collecting which blocks the drainage gulley and has led to flooding of his cellar in the past. He says the puddle which forms results in water being splashed over his shopfront leading to continuous cleaning and repairing issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council has failed to resolve problems caused by flooding of the highway outside his business. He says this affects his property with run-off and splashing of the collected water. He also says it puts the public off using the crossing when it has been raining heavily.
6. Mr X raised the matter with the Council as long ago as 2018. The Council has responded several times over the years and says it has carried out gulley cleaning when it has been necessary. In previous years the Council identified a problem under the footway where the private drain connected to the utility company facility. this was not a part of the highway drainage system and was the of the owner and the company.
7. The Council has told Mr X that there have been no other complaints from the tram operator or members of the public about access to the crossing or obstruction of the public highway.
8. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month timescale and is late. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of the highway. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman