The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s introduction of a temporary 30mph limit on a stretch of road in its area. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council introducing a temporary 30 mph speed limit without consultation with residents affected by it. He says the signage on the route is inadequate and that the Council has failed to properly enforce the reduced limit.
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 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 introduced a temporary speed limit for 30mph from the previous 50mph limit on a busy road in his area without any consultation with residents. He says the signs on the affected road are inadequate and encourage drivers to make sudden changes which could be dangerous. He also says the Council has not taken action to enforce the new restrictions.
The Council replied to Mr X’s complaints and confirmed that the temporary traffic order for the new restrictions followed the requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 which required it to notify statutory bodies and place a notice in the local press. The proposals were well covered by local and social media at the time. The Council also advised that it considers the signs suitable and compliant for the new restrictions and that the whole scheme will be reviewed after it has been in place for 18 months and open to public comment.
The Council is only responsible for the introduction of traffic regulations and it advised Mr X to contact the local police force about any matters relating to the enforcement of speeding following the lowering of the limit.
When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members when there is no fault. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions. In this case there is no evidence of fault in the way the temporary order was introduced or the advice given to Mr X in response to his complaints.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s introduction of a temporary 30mph limit on a stretch of road in its area. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman