Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council not taking responsibility for cleaning land it owns which borders her property, and failing to clean it. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in not taking responsibility for its land to warrant investigation of that issue. There is insufficient significant personal injustice caused by the matters complained of to warrant investigating. Investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X lives in a property bordering a piece of land owned by the Council. She complains the Council has:
1. failed to take responsibility for it being cleaned;
2. failed to clean the land for several years.
2. Mrs X says her children cannot use the land to play because it is slippery with moss. She says people have used it to dump rubbish and that she has had rats coming into her garden. Mrs X wants the Council to clean the land and maintain that cleanliness in future.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• 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

4. I considered information from Mrs X and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Mrs X has been raising concerns and complaints about the land with the Council for several years. The Council’s contractor has done work to clear litter from the land at various times. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council not taking responsibility for the land it owns.
6. But Mrs X was seeking removal of moss from the land’s surface, not just litter picking. Officers and the contractor have assessed the land and found removing the moss would damage or remove the surface itself. They found the site was damp so moss would likely grow back quickly.
7. Even if there has been fault by the Council in not maintaining its land, we will not investigate. Mrs X says the site’s mossy and slippery surface meant her children could not play on it. But Mrs X’s property has an outside space that her children can use. The difference between them playing on the land and using the garden instead is not sufficient injustice here to warrant us investigating. We note Mrs X says there has been fly-tipping on the land and a rat problem. She does not give details of what rubbish was left on the land or of the rat infestation, nor what impacts either issue had on her. Mrs X does not seek a remedy for any injustice caused to her by fly-tipping or rats in her complaint to us. There is insufficient evidence of a significant personal injustice from these or the other issues raised here to warrant an investigation.
8. An outcome Mrs X seeks from her complaint is for the Council to clear the moss from the site. The Council and its contractor authorised work to remove the moss with a sweeper in spring 2025. Investigation by us would not achieve a different outcome for Mrs X now.
9. We recognise Mrs X wants the Council to continue to maintain the land. We cannot foresee whether the Council will do this. If Mrs X believes the Council and its contractor is not maintaining the land, she should report this to the Council first. If she is dissatisfied with the response to that request for a service, she may decide to complain to the Council again. Only once she has exhausted the Council’s internal complaint process, and she is dissatisfied with the outcome reached, should she consider making a further complaint to us on this matter.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in not taking responsibility for the land to warrant investigation of that issue; and
• there is not enough significant personal injustice caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating; and
• investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman