The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s interaction with a Council concerning litigation. Any complaint about those aspects is now late and I have not seen good reasons why it could not have been raised to us earlier.
The complaint
Mr X said he was threatened and bullied by a Council officer during a legal process. He said this meant he had to spend a lot of time and money dealing with the matter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X provided information to us about his complaint. In that information he referenced his interaction with an officer during a legal process in 2023. Mr X raised a complaint with the Council in January 2024.
We will not investigate this complaint because it is late. And, I will not exercise discretion to consider it, because I have not seen any evidence of good reasons why Mr X could not have come to us, within 12 months of being aware of the matters of concern.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman