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
Mr Y complained the Council has failed to properly maintain the verges near his home.
Mr Y says the lack of maintenance poses a potential hazard for pedestrians and drivers and is unsightly and not visually appealing. He says the lack of action by the Council has caused him frustration.
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 fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or 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
Mr Y is unhappy with the lack of maintenance of verges along his road. He is concerned this will encourage litter, vermin and looks untidy.
The Council investigated the issue and found that the verges were not adopted by the Council. This means the Council are not currently under a duty to maintain the verges. They have therefore not breach a duty, as currently they do not have one. The Council has, in the absence of a clear owner of the verges, agreed it will act to try to adopt the verges. This can take some time, but will mean that if successfully adopted, the verges will be maintained by the Council in future.
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, while Mr Y may feel strongly about the issue, He has not suffered a sufficiently serious loss, harm or distress as a result of any fault by the Council. Consequently, as we must use public resources 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