Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to clear blocked drains at a private property. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council told him it would not attend to clear recent blockages in his drains which he says is causing unpleasant smells. He says the Council attended previously in 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating,
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council has refused to attend blocked drains from his kitchen waste outlet. He says it previously attended in 2023 and he wants the authority to dig out the drains to identify the fault.
6. The Council says Mr X is a homeowner and he is responsible for clearing any blockages to the drainage within his property boundary. Private householders need to employ their own plumbing contractor to deal with domestic drainage problems.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to clear blocked drains at a private property. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman