Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Agency’s failure to ensure a neighbour operated a sluice gate on their property correctly. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, says the Agency failed to ensure a sluice gate near his home was operated correctly. He says this allowed a nearby river to flood his front and back gardens.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Authority.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because I have not seen enough evidence of fault. The operation of the sluice gate is the responsibility of the landowner, not the Environment Agency. The Agency says it tried to contact the relevant landowner to ensure they were aware of the increased water flow when Mr X reported the flooding.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman