Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about drainage because there is another body better placed to consider the issue.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council blocked a drain near his property while carrying out highway maintenance. He is also unhappy with how his complaint was dealt with.
2. Mr Y says this led to the drain being blocked and flooding the outside of his home, causing damage. Mr Y says he has experienced flooding previously and has found this further flooding very upsetting.

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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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (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. Mr Y says the Council carried out maintenance work in an alleyway next to his property. This included tarmac resurfacing. He says that two days later, the drain was blocked as a result of tarmac in the drain, which led to his garden being flooded with sewage.
7. Mr Y believes the Council are responsible for the flooding. Mr Y says his property has been damaged, particularly his garden and fencing. He is looking for the Council to accept responsibility for the blockage and for the Council to act, in cooperation with the local water company to improve the drainage to stop the problem.
8. The Council’s response denied liability and said the drainage issue was not its responsibility, suggesting that it was the local water company who needed to act. Consequently, there is a dispute about whether the Council are liable for any repairs to both Mr Y’s property and the drainage.
9. The legislation from which we take our power also places some restrictions on what we may investigate. One of these concerns negligence claims about damage to property or personal injury. We cannot determine liability claims for negligence. These are legal claims which may only be determined by insurers or the courts.
10. Consequently, any claim for damages, such as costs for repairs, which Mr Y considers the Council to be responsible for, are matters more appropriately dealt with by the courts and insurers. Mr y may wish to make a claim either through his own home insurance or directly to the Council’s insurer. If there is further dispute about which body is responsible for any repairs, this would be a matter for the courts to potentially consider. As we cannot decide liability, insurers and the courts are better placed to consider the complaint so we will not investigate.
11. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not a good use of public funds to investigate how the Council responded to Mr Y’s complaint. We will not investigate this.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is another body better placed to consider the issue.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman