Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not prune or remove some trees. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council will not prune or remove some trees on land next to her garden.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I found out the trees will be inspected this financial year. I considered the Council’s tree policy and I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Tree policy

4. The Council does work to a tree if it is needed to keep the tree safe and healthy. It assesses each tree individually to determine if work is needed. It does not inspect, or do work, if someone reports that a tree is too tall, dropping leaves, overhanging a garden, or causing a loss of light.

What happened

5. There are trees on land next to Ms X’s garden. She says they are very tall, branches overhang her garden, and the leaves create a mess in the garden and block the gutters. Ms X reports that, at one time, a large branch fell and broke her fence.
6. Ms X asked the Council to remove or prune the trees. In reply the Council explained that, in accordance with the tree policy, no work is needed at this time.

Assessment

7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. While I think the Council’s responses could have provided more detail, its decision not to take any action is consistent with the tree policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. This is because the policy says the Council will not act if the reported problems solely relate to issues such as leaf fall or tree size. The policy states that work is not needed simply because a tree is tall and Ms X has the right to cut branches back to the boundary provided she does not damage the tree.
8. The Council is due to do a routine inspection this financial year. The Council will be able to assess if it needs to do any work to keep the trees safe and healthy.
9. Ms X has referred to a branch that once fell and damaged her fence. However, this appears to be a historic issue which I would not now investigate.

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Final decision

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman