Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s concerns about a culvert. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not take his complaint seriously about someone he reported to use a culvert to break into a property for four years. He said the person stalked him and it has affected his mental health. He wants the Council to enter the culvert and assess it.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council that an unknown person accessed a property through a culvert. In its response the Council said a person could not access the culvert as the width of the drainage pipes would not allow it. It also confirmed there were no obvious defects that required further investigation.
6. Mr X then informed the Council the culvert had a defect that required investigation. In response to Mr X’s concern the Council said senior engineers visited the site and inspected the culvert. It said it found no signs of damage or tunnelling.
7. Mr X complained that a person used the culvert to stalk him. The Council said it cannot investigate stalking allegations. It explained to Mr X that he should contact the police and provided him with the contact details to do so.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council investigated the culvert and explained its findings to Mr X. It correctly directed Mr X to contact the police about the stalking allegations. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant the Ombudsman’s involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman