The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council held an incorrect address for Mrs Y between 2015 and 2018. This complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone as there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mrs Y complains the Council refused to consider her complaint because it concerned historic events from 2018. She says the Council should respond to her complaint because she only recently became aware of the financial and administrative consequences of the Council’s actions.
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 council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs Y complains the Council’s Street Naming and Numbering department delayed updating its Electoral Service with her correct address in 2018. She says this meant the electoral register was incorrect and the error with her address occurred between 2015 and 2018. Mrs Y’s complaint about delays in the Council correcting her address is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion. The Council corrected the address error in 2018 following contact from Mrs Y meaning she was aware there was potentially an issue with the Council’s records at that time. She could have complained to the Ombudsman much sooner if she wished for us to consider her complaint. For these reasons, we will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint.
It is not proportionate to investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone when we will not investigate the substantive matter. In any case, the Council has provided a response to Mrs Y’s original complaint and given clear reasons, in line with its complaints policy, as to why it will not look at historic matters under stage two of its complaints process. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint that the Council held an incorrect address for Mrs Y between 2015 and 2018. This complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman