Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of roadside vegetation. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault causing the complainant injustice that would justify the use of public funds to investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained the Council has not properly maintained vegetation by the highway near his home.

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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’.
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint, which included the Council’s response to his concerns. I have also seen photographs of the area in question on the Internet.

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What I found

5. Mr B says the Council has historically carried out maintenance to some roadside vegetation near his home but has not done so recently. The Council says it is not part of the highway and so is not included in its regular maintenance schedule. However, it generally carries out some work in association with highway maintenance but cannot guarantee this in the future.

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Final decision

6. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council that has caused Mr B injustice that would warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman