Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about street cleaning in the area near the complainant’s home. It is unlikely we would find evidence of recent fault causing injustice that would justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about the standard of street cleaning carried out by the Council in his local area.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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’.
5. 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
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

6. 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 that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and background information provided by the Council. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

8. In April 2020, Mr B complained to the Council about the standard of street cleaning and said this had been going on for several years. He said the Council should use a person with a barrow to carry out the cleaning.
9. The Council replied to Mr B and described the level of cleaning it carries out, which it accepted this had been slightly reduced by the impact of COVID-19. It also explained why a mechanical sweeper was best suited to the particular area.

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Final decision

10. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we will not look at concerns Mr B had in the past which he did not bring to our attention. The Council has replied to his more recent concerns. While Mr B may be unhappy with the Council’s response, I consider it unlikely we would find evidence of fault causing him injustice that would justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman