The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. This is because the complaint is late with no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
The complaint
Mr Y complained the Authority has failed to repair a defect causing his building to vibrate after road repairs were carried out in 2017.
Mr Y says he has had the issue investigated by vibration engineers, costing him over £1,400 and the problem causes him sleep problems and causes his wife anxiety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 body in our jurisdiction has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr Y says repair work was completed on his road in 2017. Following this, Mr Y says the building in which he lives has been vibrating when traffic, particularly HGVs drive over where the work was done. Mr Y says he complained to the Authority since September 2018 as his building shakes, causing him disturbed nights and anxiety.
The Authority carried out a site visit in 2018 and wrote to Mr Y confirming it had considered the patch where the repairs had been and did not consider it a safety risk and no repair would be done. It also referred Mr Y to its claims department if he wished to take the matter further.
Mr Y says he has continued to complain to the Authority since this date and has had an engineer’s survey carried out at his own cost, of over £1,400 into the vibrations in the building, which he has provided to the Authority’s legal department.
In February 2022, the Council responded to further contact about the issue from Mr Y, referring him to seek his own legal advice about the matter. Mr Y approached us in September.
Analysis 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 body in jurisdiction has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
Mr Y’s was aware of his reason to complain about the Council’s actions when he was told that the Authority would not carry out repairs to the road in 2018, more than 12 months ago. Consequently, his complaint is now late. We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph four where we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring his complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect his to have complained sooner, particularly given that he was able to engage the expertise of others, such as the engineer and so was not prevented from contacting us.
Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because the complaint is late with no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman