Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of the highway infrastructure in the town where Mr X lives. 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 complained about the poor maintenance of roads and highway infrastructure in the town where he loves. He has been raising these matters with the Council since 2023 but remains dissatisfied with the slow progress of repairs. He says the poor state of the roads is causing damage to vehicles and danger of injury to pedestrians.

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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 considered the 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 is failing to maintain the highways system in his town. He has brought details of potholes, lack of speed signs and dangerous kerbstones to the Council’s attention since 2023. He says the Council only carries out work when the defect reaches its intervention stage or under planned maintenance which may take years. He wants the Council to carry out works at an early stage to prevent the roads and footways from deteriorating.
6. We will not investigate this compalint which concerns matters the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they complained to us. Mr X has raised various matters with the Council since 2023 and there is no good reason why he could not have complained to us earlier. 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

7. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of the highway infrastructure in the town where Mr X lives. 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