The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of a vehicle access. It is unlikely we would find fault and there is no worthwhile outcome in us investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complained because he believed the Council wrongly interpreted its policy, meaning it then incorrectly rejected his application for vehicle access onto his property. Mr X said this meant he is unable to purchase a vehicle he intended to buy.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 continue 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X applied to the Council, to have a vehicle access installed on the roadway outside his home. The Council considered his application and refused it. Mr X asked for this decision to be reviewed and subsequently complained about the same matter.
During a three-stage complaint process, the Council explained why it refused Mr X’s application in line with its policy and how its engineers had arrived at their decisions. It also confirmed Mr X’s representations had been considered by other officers who came to the same conclusion. In this exchange the Council accepted some of the online guidance on the Council’s website could be made clearer and committed to change it and offered to refund Mr X’s application fee.
We will not investigate this because it is unlikely we would find fault here. In any case we are not an appeal body, and we would not make a decision that Mr X could have his vehicle access. We could only ask the Council to consider its decision and the evidence shows it has done through its complaint procedures.
Additionally, it has identified where information on its website could be clearer and has offered to refund Mr X his initial application. These are appropriate actions.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault and there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman