Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council hung a cherry picker platform over his property without his permission. This is because Mr B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains the Council hung a cherry picker platform over his property to cut back an overhanging park tree. Mr B says this was not necessary and the Council did not ask his permission to do this. Mr B also says the Council has wrongly said he asked for these branches to be cut back. In addition, Mr B complains the Council delayed responding to his complaint about this issue.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint.
6. The Council has apologised to Mr B for its delay responding to his complaint. This was a suitable response.
7. An investigation into the Council’s use of the cherry picker is not justified.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. The use of the cherry picker caused Mr B some distress. But, I find the alleged fault by the Council has not caused Mr B a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman. For example, Mr B has not claimed that any parts of his property were damaged by the Council’s use of the cherry picker.
10. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he has not suffered a significant injustice which would warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman