The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about street cleaning because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about a lack of street cleaning in his road.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and some additional provided by the Council to me subsequent to its final complaint reply. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about a lack of street cleaning in his road. The Council initially said his road is scheduled to be cleaned every three weeks. It then said the first 20 metres should be cleaned every day because the road is adjacent to the city centre which is cleaned daily. The Council explained that, following Mr X’s reports, it had met him, arranged a litter pick and monitoring, put up signs and carried out community engagement. It also explained there are separate teams who deal with commercial waste and fly-tipping. The Council explained the enforcement activity it had completed over the last two years. Mr X responded by saying his road is not swept every day and he does not think any monitoring has been done.
The Council confirmed to me that monitoring has been completed. It also explained that the first 20 metres of the road are cleaned if the road falls below the grade B standard. This means it will not sweep if the area is predominantly free of litter (this does not mean it must be litter free).
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The complaint replies could have been clearer but that, as an isolated issue, does not need an investigation. The Council has confirmed Mr X’s road is swept every three weeks and more often if it does not meet grade B. In addition, the Council has taken additional steps to try to reduce litter and reduce the problems linked to commercial waste and fly-tipping. I appreciate the street might not be as clean as Mr X would wish for but there is nothing to suggest we need to start an investigation.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman