Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not replacing dead bushes on its land in front of his house, and how it dealt with his correspondence and complaints about it. There is insufficient significant personal injustice caused to Mr X by the sight of the bushes to warrant us investigating. We do not investigate councils’ contacts and complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to that correspondence and complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives where there are Council-owned and maintained bushes in verges along the highway. He complains the Council:
1. has failed to replace dead bushes near his property;
2. failed to respond to his correspondence and complaints in a timely manner.
2. Mr X says the dead bushes look terrible. He wants the Council to replace them, investigate why the Council often failed to respond to him, and improve its communications and complaint-handling.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mr X and the Council, viewed online maps and considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We recognise Mr X and some of his neighbours are concerned about the bushes and find them unsightly. But the sight of the dead or unhealthy bushes does not cause such a significant personal injustice to Mr X, nor his neighbours, to warrant us investigating.
6. Mr X corresponded with the Council for several months before complaining. The Council did not respond to all contacts, or sometimes delayed them. But we do not investigate council correspondence and complaint handling where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so we will not investigate this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough significant personal injustice caused to Mr X by the sight of the bushes to warrant us investigating; and
• we do not investigate councils’ contacts and complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to that correspondence and complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman