The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a dropped kerb because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr Y complained the Council has failed to complete a fully dropped kerb outside his and his neighbour’s property.
Mr Y says this means that people still park over the raised kerb section outside his property, causing him inconvenience.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome.
In this case, the Council has considered the site, taken measurements and considered it policy. It has also considered the likelihood it would grant any further dropping of the kerb if the neighbour were to apply for this in the future. It has made its conclusions based on relevant criteria so the decision has been made properly without fault in the decision-making process. As there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman