Leicester City Council (23 013 560)
Category : Environment and regulation > Trees
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jan 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s request to remove or replace trees. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has refused his request to replace or remove trees on the street where he lives.
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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says Council-owned trees on the street where he lives drop berries which cause nuisance and damage to property. He has asked the Council to address the issue by removing the trees or replacing them with a species which does not drop berries. He complains that it has declined to do so.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. Where there is no evidence of fault in the way a Council makes a decision, we will not intervene to criticise the decision, or to substitute an alternative view. We would not criticise the Council for deciding that the removal of healthy trees is not justified in these circumstances. That is a matter for the professional judgement of the Council’s officers.
- If Mr X believes the berries have caused damage to his property, and that the Council is responsible for the damage, his recourse would be to take the matter to court. There is no role for the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman