Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s lack of communication in relation to road sweeping and cleaning. The injustice Mr X says he has experienced is not sufficient to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s lack of response relating to his reports of roads and gutters not being swept and cleaned. He says this has caused him to become fed up with the condition of the roads in his town. He wants the Council to improve its communication.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he has raised concerns with the Council several times about the conditions of roads in his area, which he says have not been swept in years. He says the Council has not responded adequately when he has contacted it. Mr X says he has become fed up with raising the issue, and says it is depressing to walk around his town.
6. I have seen the Council’s final complaint response to Mr X. It explained the steps it must take to sweep some of the roads he has contacted it about, some of which have high speed limits. It acknowledged the importance of carrying out road sweeping, and explained it had recently been able to carry out some sweeping on roads that concerned Mr X.
7. Mr X has experienced some frustration and inconvenience in reporting the issue to the Council, and he finds the unswept sections of road unsightly. We must carefully consider whether the injustice someone has experienced is sufficient to justify the use of public resources to investigate their complaint. In this case, there is not a significant injustice caused by the concerns Mr X raises and we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the injustice he says he has experienced is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman