Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about traffic management. This is because the complaint is late without good reasons.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council has failed to manage the rush hour traffic along his road, which regularly including speeding cars. Mr Y is concerned the lack of action to manage the speed of cars will result in an accident.

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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 information provided by Mr Y and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr Y says the issue of speeding cars along his road has been ongoing for several years. He says he has complained and campaigned for a long time about the problem. Previously the Council installed a Speed Indicator Devices (SID) along his road. Mr Y says the SID was broken, and then removed by the Council but was not replaced. He says even with the SID in place, drivers were still not adhering to the reduced 20mph speed limit in the area.
5. Mr Y complained to the Council in February 2020. In his letter he referred to an earlier letter about the same issue which he had sent a year before. He asked the Council to respond to the issue. He also wrote to his local councillor in March, saying he had been contacting the Council about the problem since 2016.
6. The Council acknowledged Mr Y’s complaint in March. Having not received a response, Mr Y contacted us initially in November. After receiving further information from Mr Y, we asked the Council to provide him with its final response in June 2021.
7. The Council did this in July 2021. It apologised for the delay in responding to the complaint and partially upheld Mr Y’s complaint. It said there had been a technical issue with the SIDs which had taken longer than expected to resolve. It also said the SIDs had been rolled out across the area on a priority need basis, but Mr Y’s road was due to be discussed at the next ward meeting with Councillors. Mr Y says a new sign has now been installed, but he remains concerned about the speed of cars and is worried the sign will eventually be removed.

Analysis

8. 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.
9. Mr Y has been aware of his reason to complain for several years. His complaint email to his councillor in March 2020 shows he has been aware of the issue since 2016. As Mr Y did not contact us until February 2021, more than 12 months after he became aware of the problem, his complaint is late.
10. Mr Y told us he had been waiting for a response from the Council before he came to us. However, our website provides guidance which says people should complain to us if they have not had a response within a reasonable time, this usually being within 12 weeks.
11. While the Council did not provide its final complaint response until July 2021, it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to have followed our guidance and complained to us sooner.
12. Mrs Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring his complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. Consequently, there is no reason to exercise our discretion and we should not investigate this late complaint.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late with no good reasons for us to investigate it now.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman