Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of matters relating to its failure to take enforcement action under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and 1987 or to issue a Community Protection Notice under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because an investigation will not lead to the outcomes Mr X seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of matters relating to its failure to take enforcement action against managing agents under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and 1987 or issue a Community Protection Notice under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. He seeks disciplinary action against the officers involved and a substantial contribution towards legal costs for a court case he is pursuing against the managing agents.

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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. 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to the issues Mr X has raised in relation to enforcement action under the Landlord and Tenant Acts as he was aware of the issues in early 2023. As we would reasonably have expected him to have complained to us about them sooner, they fall outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time.
8. Moreover, the outcomes Mr X seeks for his complaint are not ones we can achieve by an investigation and we cannot not look at the merits of decisions properly taken by Council officers exercising their professional judgement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction due to the passage of time and because an investigation will not lead to the outcomes Mr X seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman