The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a flood depth marker because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr Y complained the Council has incorrectly installed a flood depth marker in his village, which Mr Y says is inaccurate. Mr Y says he is concerned about the issue, a vehicle got stuck in water while ignoring the marker and the marker does not improve road safety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered a serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss of injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
In this case, Mr Y’s injustice is his concern about the issue and the time he has spent pursuing it. While Mr Y may feel strongly about this issue, he has not suffered a sufficiently serious loss or distress as a result of the Council’s actions. Consequently, as we must use public funds carefully, we will not investigate his complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman