Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council has failed to extend a pavement outside a property he owns and to take effective action to stop a commercial bin being left outside his building. This is because his complaint is late and I have decided not to exercise discretion to investigate it.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr B, complained that the Council has failed to extend a pavement outside a property he owns and to take effective action to stop a commercial bin being left outside his building. He told us these issues have a detrimental effect on the building and its users.

Back to top

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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mr B provided, his emails and complaints to the Council about the issues he has raised with us and the Council’s responses. I have also considered Mr B’s comments on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr B has raised two issues with us which affect a building he owns. The first issue is he says there is a need for a footpath to extend right across rather than partway across the building. He says he first asked for the footpath in January 2013. But, when the Council carried out the work, the footpath did not extend right across the building. Mr B raised this with the Council in January 2015.
7. In its final response to this part of Mr B’s complaint the Council said it was clearly unacceptable for it to take so long to respond to him. But it said it had completed the work it had intended to carry out and did not intend to carry out the footpath extension Mr B had asked for.
8. The second part of Mr B’s complaint is about a commercial bin which Mr B says has been left outside his building since he has owned it. He told us he has been complaining to the Council about it since he bought the building in 2011.
9. When the Council replied to this complaint it said it had asked the occupiers of the building to keep their bins tidy and away from the fire exit. The Council told Mr B it had found the situation had improved during its follow-up visits. It said if its environmental health service had any further concerns, its officers would take them up with the parties concerned.
10. If people wish to complain to the Ombudsman, they must do so within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. That time limit runs from the time the complainant knew about the problem, not from the date of the Council’s final complaint response. Mr B has been aware of the issues he is complaining about for well over twelve months. But he did not make his complaint to us within the twelve-month time limit. If complaints are about recent events, this gives us the best opportunity to reach a robust evidence-based decision. Mr B says his understanding was he had to wait until the Council reached a final decision before complaining to us.
11. We have discretion to investigate late complaints if there are good reasons to do so, such as illness which prevented a complainant from complaining to us in time. With the passage of time, it becomes increasingly difficult to for us reach a sound decision. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion because Mr B could have made a formal complaint sooner to the Council and then to us. There was a significant delay before the Council sent its final decision to Mr B. People may contact us if they have not received a response from the Council to their complaint within a reasonable time period. Furthermore, there is no obligation on the Council to carry out the footpath extension Mr B has asked for. So there is no real prospect we could achieve this outcome for him if we investigated his complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and I have decided not exercise discretion to investigate it.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman