Summary: Ms X complained about the Council mowing an area of grass near her home which she says should be maintained in an ecological way. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains about the Council mowing grass on a piece of land which she says should be maintained to encourage wildflowers.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Ms X submitted with her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response and Ms X has been given the opportunity to comment on the draft response.

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What I found

4. Ms X complained to the Council about the way in which a piece of land was maintained. She says she did not get support from her local councillor which she asked for and was concerned that shrubs had been removed from the land.
5. The Council says it does not own the land but has a legal agreement with the landowner to cut the grass. It cannot stop cutting the grass because it has a contract and it does not own the land, so it is not responsible for the owner’s trees and shrubs. Ms X asked for a copy of the legal agreement but she is not party to it so she would have to make a request under Freedom of Information regulations.
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached.
7. The Council is providing a maintenance service to a private landowner and there is no obligation to a member of the public to provide other than what is in its agreement.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman