Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s delay in producing the flood investigation report covering the flooding of his road and land around it. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s delay in producing the flood investigation report covering the flooding of his road and land around it in July 2021. He says this is causing anxiety and the flooding issues remain unresolved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an organisation’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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s road and some surrounding land was flooded in July 2021.
8. In April 2022, he complained to the Council that it had not yet published its flood report of the incident.
9. The Council responded by explaining that when investigating multiple rainfall events which had affected a large number of properties and locations, its Flood and Water Team aim to publish all flood investigation reports within 12 months of receiving verification of the flooding. It said it was currently investigating over 100 instances of flooding and was consulting on the draft reports with stakeholders and that this would be followed by consultation with property holders before publication. It told Mr X that the target date for completion is June 2022.
10. While I understand Mr X’s frustration at the time it is taking to produce the report, I have not seen evidence to suggest fault by the Council or that it has not properly followed its published procedures. It is for the Council to decide what priority to give to investigating a particular flooding event.
11. In responding to my draft decision Mr X says the Council does not have any published criteria and that the procedure is opaque and protracted. However, the link provided by the Council in its Stage 1 response to Mr X gives details of its procedures for flood and water management. Not all flooding incidents have the same impact and priority as its Flood Investigation Protocol sets out.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman