Summary: The Council’s offer to visit the site to respond to a complaint that a drainage pipe is blocked remedies the complainants concerns. This will establish if the Council is able to take action or if it is a private legal matter between two landowners.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr B, complains the Council has failed to help him resolve a drainage issue. He would like a drainage survey before his home is flooded again.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the papers put in by Mr B.
5. I considered the supporting documents provided by the Council.
6. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. Mr B said the Council should be able to help to unblock a blocked pipe. But the Council has decided it has no grounds to take enforcement action. The Council told Mr B the primary cause of the flooding he experienced was the capacity of a piped watercourse on privately owned land. The Council said the riparian owners have a responsibility to maintain watercourses but that does not extend to improving them or increasing their capacity.
8. Mr B says the Council has not visited the site or responded to his complaint that the pipe is blocked.
9. In response to my enquiries, the Council has said that it has not visited to check if the pipe is blocked. The Council has said that if Mr B still wants the Council to visit the site to investigate if there is a blockage in the pipe, the officer will visit.

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Final decision

10. I have stopped investigating this complaint and do not uphold Mr B's complaint. The Council proposes to take action which will resolve the outstanding issue and no further action by the Ombudsman is needed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman