Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s installation of bollards, its handling of a dropped kerb application and removal of a parking bay, and its handling of the resulting complaint. The complaint relates to matters from more than 12 months ago and so is late. Additionally, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks, as only the courts can award compensation.

The complaint

1. Mr X, represented by Ms Y, complains the Council unlawfully installed bollards outside his home in 2022, and did not remove them until 2024.
2. Mr X also says the Council failed to remove a parking bay outside his property after his successful kerb crossover application, and there was unacceptable delay in the Council responding to his resulting complaint.
3. Mr X says this caused distress.
4. Mr X wants the Council to apologise and award him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. 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)
7. 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:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

8. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by Ms Y.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. Mr X complained to the Council about the bollards and the dropped kerb application in 2024, but Ms Y says the Council did not respond until 2025.
12. The 12-month period runs from the day the person affected had notice of the matters alleged in the complaint (i.e. the actions complained about).
13. I have considered whether there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider Mr X's complaint. The law, explained in paragraph six, says we should not investigate late complaints. As Mr X complained to the Council in 2024, it was reasonable to expect him to complain to us sooner.
14. Additionally, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants from complaining to us. It is not our role to assess economic losses or award compensation, and we direct people to the courts where that is their primary goal. Therefore, the courts are better placed to consider Mr X’s complaint.
15. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late. Additionally, we cannot achieve what Mr X wants from complaining to us, so the courts are better placed to consider his complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman