The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with concerns about highway maintenance. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council dealt with his concerns about defects on a road outside his property, which he believes is causing vibrations which is affecting his sleep.
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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, 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
Mr X contacted the Council about vibrations to his property which he felt was caused by a defect to the road outside his property. In response to his concerns, an inspector from the Council’s Highways Team carried out an inspection of the road. The inspector concluded that there was no defect to the road, and therefore no repairs that could be carried out. Mr X feels the Council should carry out further investigation and rectify the issue.
I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council has completed a site visit and it satisfied with the road surface. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify investigating. We cannot question the merits of decisions which have been properly made. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s approach, but that does not mean it has done anything wrong.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman