Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about drainage because we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained about the Council’s lack of action in relation to poor and defective drainage on a road near his home. Mr Y is also unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint which he says has inaccuracies within it.
2. Mr Y says this is causing water to flood on the road where water is unable to drain from the highway. This is leading to water becoming deeper, causing a hazard for motorists and could cause flooding to homes nearby. Mr Y says he has also spent time and trouble making the complaint and the Council’s response has caused him disappointment and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council as a local highways authority has a statutory duty to reasonably maintain and repair the highway so it is free of danger to all users using the highway in a way normally to be expected.
7. This includes the drainage of the highway. A highway authority has a duty to make reasonable arrangements to get rid of water which has fallen directly onto a highway. However, it has no duty over water which has run onto the highway from surrounding land.
8. This means the Council is expected to routinely monitor the state of highways and carry out repairs where necessary. But, the level of maintenance, frequency of inspection, and threshold for repair is not set out in law and is open to interpretation. The Council uses its professional expertise to determine the level of risk and therefore need for highway maintenance.
9. The Council upheld Mr Y’s complaint that the drainage in his area is not sufficient to drain the water collecting on the road. It has carried out an investigation into the area and found that work was needed to resolve the problem.
10. As part of these works the Council has already taken action to widen and deepen the ditch to allow better drainage from the road. It has also found that additional pipework is needed in the area to run between the highway drain and the drainage ditch to reduce the water from the road. It has said it plans to install a pipe to complete this work in the next financial year, 2025/2026.
11. While Mr Y may believe that the work needs to take place sooner, it is for the Council, using its professional experience and expertise, to consider the matter and prioritise use of its resources. It has already acted to improve drainage into ditches, but the remaining work will not be completed until the financial year 2025/2026.
12. If we were to investigate and find fault causing an injustice to Mr Y, we could ask the Council to consider what work is needed. However, as this has already been identified by the Council, our investigation would not add to the anything beyond the Council’s own investigation.
13. The Council has considered when it can complete the work and has agreed to do so in the financial year 2025/2026. There is no reason to believe that this programme will not be carried out in future.
14. Consequently, it is unlikely we would be able to achieve an outcome substantially sooner than that already agreed. We must use public resources carefully and any investigation is unlikely to result in a different outcome. We will not investigate.
15. As we are not investigating the substantive issue in this complaint, it is not a good use of public resource to investigate how the Council dealt with and responded to Mr Y’s complaint. We will not investigate this.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman