Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal of the complainant’s dropped kerb application. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his dropped kerb application, which he says was unfair, inconsistent, and failed to properly consider his disability. He says the refusal of his application caused significant stress, frustration, and inconvenience as he relied on safe and practical access to his property.

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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. The law also says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence.
• the Council’s ‘Application for a vehicle crossover – guidance and process’ document.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The 12-month time restriction detailed in paragraph 3 above appears to apply to the complaint. This is because Mr X’s dropped kerb application was refused in early-2017, and the Council directed him towards its complaint process at that time, yet Mr X did not contact the Ombudsman until late-2025. Whilst I acknowledge the disabilities referred to in Mr X’s complaint, on balance, I do not see that this prevented him from submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman sooner. We will therefore not start an investigation into this late complaint now.
7. And with reference to paragraph 4 above, if Mr X wants to pursue a complaint about the Council’s refusal of his disabled parking bay application, it seems reasonable to expect him to submit this to the Council in the first instance.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to have contacted us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman