Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to repair a wall it does not own, and which is on private land. We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, Mr X can ask a court to decide if the Council is liable for the repair.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council refuses to act on his report of a serious safety risk posed by a collapsing retaining wall next to his home. He also says it failed to follow its complaint procedure.
2. He wants the Council to work with him to progress repairs and pay compensation for the stress and anxiety he has suffered.

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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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council refuses to act on his reports that the wall next to his home is collapsing and poses a danger to himself and others.
7. The Council has advised Mr X it does not own the wall, and the adjacent path is unregistered land. It says as it does not own the wall it will not carry out repairs. However, as it has rights to use the path as it owns two nearby houses, it is required to pay a reasonable proportion of the cost of repair. It has told Mr X to contact the landowner to arrange repair works and provide estimates of the costs. Once this is received the Council says it will consider a proportionate contribution.
8. The Ombudsman does not investigate claims of liability as this is a matter for the courts. If Mr X believes the Council is liable for fixing the wall which is on private land, he can ask the courts to decide.
9. Mr X also complains the Council has not followed its complaint procedure. The Council has already apologised for the delay in its response. We expect councils to follow their published complaint process. However, it is not a good use of public money to investigate a failure in the complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive matter.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, Mr X can ask the courts to decide who is liable for the repair.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman