Summary: Mr X complains the Council is wrong to seek payment from him for repair works it carried out to a footway outside his house in 2018. We will not investigate as the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council is wrong to seek payment from him for repair works it carried out to the footway outside his home.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and the comments Mr X made in response to my draft decision on the complaint, which I sent to him.

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What I found

4. In late 2018, the Council carried out repairs to the footway outside Mr X’s home after it says it was damaged when Mr X had his driveway re-laid. The Council sent Mr X a bill for the repairs in January 2019. The Council says it carried out the work, and re-charged Mr X, in accordance with its highways policy and section 133 of the Highways Act 1980.
5. Mr X says he carried out repairs himself and so the Council’s work was unnecessary. Mr X feels the Council is wrong to ask him to pay for the work it did.
6. Mr X complained to the Council at the time it carried out the work. The Council explained its position to Mr X and referred him to the Ombudsman, in a letter it sent to him in April 2019. Mr X, however, says he thought the matter was resolved as the Council did not reply to a letter Mr X’s MP sent to it a few days later. Mr X says the Council did not contact him again until August 2020. Mr X says he did not complain then to us as he was unaware of our service. Mr X first complained to us in January 2021.

Analysis

7. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us as it was not made within 12 months of him knowing about the problem. I consider Mr X could have complained to us sooner as the Council referred him to us in April 2019. While there was a gap in contact from the Council about this matter, until August 2020, this presented another opportunity for Mr X to complain to us. As it was, Mr X did not complain to us until January 2021.
8. We have discretion to investigate late complaints but I do not consider there are good reasons to do so in this case. We will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

9. My decision is we will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman