Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his road caused by the Council’s refuse and recycling collection vehicles. This is because it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council’s refuse and recycling collection vehicles have damaged the road outside his property and the Council has failed to carry out suitable repairs. He says this has caused inconvenience for his family and local residents who have to cross the front of his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and discussed the complaint with him.

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What I found

5. Mr X lives on a section of paved road. The Council accepts its refuse and recycling collection crews should not drive over the paved road but until recently they continued to do so. Mr X complained to the Council as he believes this caused damage to the road. The Council does not accept the damage is the result of actions by its crews but it has agreed to repair a short section of the road in front of Mr X’s property. It has also instructed the collection crews not to use the road in future and agreed to pay Mr X £50 for the time and trouble taken to raise the complaint.
6. The Council has not yet carried out the repairs, likely as a result of recent lockdown measures and restricted work practices, and Mr X does not believe they go far enough. He wants the Council to carry out repairs to the whole road.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. Mr X suggests the road is privately owned rather than being part of the public highway. If therefore he believes the Council has damaged his property and is not happy with the Council’s offer to resolve the matter it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
8. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council has dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has an alternative remedy which it would be reasonable for him to use.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman