The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the quality of road surface repairs near Mr X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the quality of a road surface repair which was carried out in the road outside his home. He says when heavy vehicles or trailers pass over it there is a violent crash which is causing disturbance to his sleep. He wants the Council to level the repair to a smoother standard.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council repaired the road surface outside his home in May 2021. He says that the repair patch is now proud of the surface of the highway and that when heavy vehicles or trailers pass over it they cause a loud impact noise. This is disturbing his sleep and he believes the works were sub-standard compared to highway repairs carried out by other utility services nearby.
Mr X took up the matter with his local councillor and complaint to the Council about the problem. The Councill sent an officer to inspect the repair and he concluded that the surface is within the Council’s accepted tolerances for hand-laid tarmac repairs. The Council told Mr X that it will not carry out any further work, although the highway will be monitored according to its normal maintenance schedule.
The Ombudsman may not question the merits of decisions which have been made in a proper manner. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions. In this case it is for the highway authority’s professional officers to consider if the highway surface meets the necessary standard.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the quality of road surface repairs near Mr X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman