The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Ms Y complained the Council has left a footpath in disrepair since July 2024 and has failed to respond properly to his complaint.
Ms Y says this makes the street dangerous and is leading to businesses along the road closing.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Ms Y 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.
While Ms Y may be concerned about the issue, she has not had a serious loss, harm and distress. While she may have had some inconvenience this is not so significant as to justify use of public funds to investigate. Consequently, we will not investigate this issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman