The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal of her vehicle crossover application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Ms B complains about the Council’s refusal of her vehicle crossover application. Ms B does not consider the Council has given her application fair consideration or understood what her request is.
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 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms B and the Council. I also considered the Council’s vehicle crossover guidance and have viewed Ms B’s property on Google Streetview.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council visited Ms B’s property to assess her application. The Council refused Ms B’s application saying a crossover in this location would be within the root protection area of a highway tree. The Council explained how this root protection area is measured with reference to the Council’s vehicle crossover guidance.
The information does not indicate the Council’s decision was affected by fault. The Council visited the site and applied the relevant section of the Council’s vehicle crossover guidance. The information does not indicate the Council misunderstood Ms B’s request or did not give it fair consideration.
So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman