Derbyshire County Council (24 006 227)

Category : Transport and highways > Rights of way

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 10 Sep 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a right of way because it is late without good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

The complaint

  1. Mr Y complained the Council failed to act against a landowner who was blocking a footpath and failed to respond properly to his complaints about the issue since 2021.
  2. Mr Y says this has caused him to spend many hours dealing with the matter, causing him inconvenience and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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)
  3. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
  2. In this case, Mr Y first contacted to the Council in 2021 about the issue and the actions of the Council in response to his complaints. He has complained each year since this, with repairs having been made by the Council in 2021, which Mr Y comments lasted approximately two weeks before it was damaged.
  3. Mr Y was therefore aware of his reason to complain about the Council’s actions when he contacted the Council about the issue in 2021 and after the initial repair was damaged, more than 12 months ago. Consequently, the complaint is now late.
  4. We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph four where we decide there are good reasons. However, Mr Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring the complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. As he was able to communicate with the Council about this and was not prevented from using our service, it is reasonable to expect him to have complained to us sooner. Consequently, we will not exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint now.
  5. As we are not investigating the substantive matter, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint and we will not investigate this.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late without good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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