Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the general state of the housing estate Ms X lives on. This is because an investigation is unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says the Council needs to address the poor state of the estate she lives on. She says it has not responded adequately to the many issues, including those involving health and safety, she has raised.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant, including the Council’s response to the complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Ms X complained to the Council about the state of her estate, particularly its walkways, drains and paths. She said on receiving her reports the areas concerned are cleared but that the Council should address the whole estate.
6. The Council responded to her complaint and, while it acknowledged it had not told her it had added a later complaint she had made to the one it was already investigating, it did not uphold her complaint about its response to maintenance and clearance issues on the estate. It advised Ms X that she could continue to report any new or outstanding concerns and asked that she be specific in identifying the location of a particular issue rather than talking about the estate as a whole.
7. We do not investigate every complaint we receive. While Ms X may be dissatisfied with the outcome of her complaint to the Council, there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation as an investigation is unlikely to usefully add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a significantly different outcome. If Ms X has current and specific concerns, she can report these to the Council which can then assess them and consider what action to take.

Back to top

Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman