Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about damage caused to her property by works carried out via a Disabled Facilities Grant in 2008. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains her property was damaged by work carried out via a Disabled Facilities Grant in 2008. Miss X also complains the Council did not allow her to make a stage two complaint about the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X complains her property was damaged by work carried out by builders via a Disabled Facilities Grant for her mother in 2008.
8. Miss X’s family first complained about the matter in 2010 and again in 2016 and in late 2023. The Council said it was not responsible for maintenance of, or repairs to, the works.
9. Miss X also complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint.
10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. Miss X has been aware of the matter for several years and three complaints have been made to the Council about the matter as far back as 2010. I see no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the complaint now 15 years after a complaint about the matter was first raised to the Council.
11. We do not investigate complaints about complaint handling where we are not considering the substantive complaint. This is because it is not a good use of limited public resources for us to do so.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman