Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s delay in carrying out tree works to a tree close to his property. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because earlier events fall outside our jurisdiction and an investigation into events from 2018 would be 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 Mr B, says he has been complaining since 2015 about the impact of a nearby tree on his property and that in 2018, after referring the Council to its own tree policy, it finally undertook works to cut the tree back. This has caused him much stress over the years for which he should be compensated, and the tree should be pruned further.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B, his representative and the Council. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered the comments he made.

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What I found

6. Since 2015 Mr B has complained to the Council about the impact of a tree which grows on Council land opposite the rear of his property and which blocks his view and light and causes a nuisance.
7. In February 2018 the Council responded to Mr B’s complaint about its failure to undertake works in accordance with its Tree Management Policy. This policy sets out the criteria under which the Council will consider doing work outside its programmed work.
8. The Council pruned the tree but it did not make clear under what grounds it did so or what policy criteria had been met. The Council advised Mr B if he was not happy with the Council’s response, he could progress his complaint through the Council’s complaints procedure.
9. Subsequently, Mr B asked the Council to look his complaint at the next stage of its complaints procedure, complaining about the time taken to carry out the works in 2018 and asking it to cut the tree back further. He also asked it to pay him compensation for the time he had spent trying to resolve the matter.
10. As part of its investigation the Council inspected the tree and considered Mr B’s position under its Tree Management Policy. While it found it could have communicated better with Mr B over the time he had had been complaining and that there was no record to say whether the works carried out in 2018 were part of a maintenance programme or to alleviate the nuisances he had raised, it concluded, in following its tree policy, that there was no requirement for it to undertake further works and that it would not pay Mr B compensation. It did, however, make a service improvement recommendation to review how the outcome of enquiries and complaints are relayed to customers, with reference to the tree policy to explain why works will or will not be carried out.

Assessment

11. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 4 applies to the part of Mr B’s complaint which relates back to the beginning of his complaint in 2015 and I see no grounds which warrant investigating these older events now.
12. While noting the Council’s failure to record the reason for the works it undertook in 2018, the works were done and since this time inspections have led the Council to conclude no further works are currently required. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make and the merits of it are not open to review by the Ombudsman no matter how strongly Mr B may disagree with it.
13. Mr B says there is a potential health and safety risk from the tree but the Council has inspected it and has not found it to be in a dangerous state. Mr B also says the Council has not followed the part of its policy which says it will cut back trees which are over 12m high and less than 5m from a habitable room. However, as Mr B has confirmed, the tree in question is 6m away from his back gate and the Council’s policy only states such work may be considered.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because earlier events fall outside our jurisdiction and an investigation into events from 2018 would be unlikely to add to that already carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman