Summary: Ms X complains the Council refuses to remove ivy which is damaging her property. We will not investigate this complaint. We cannot establish whether the Council is liable to remove the ivy and repair Ms X’s property. Liability in such matters, are for the Council’s insurers, and ultimately, the courts.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, says the Council allowed ivy to grow across garages it owns and onto her property. She says this has damaged her property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Ms X and discussed the complaint with her. I also considered information provided by the Council.

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What I found

6. There is a block of garages owned by the Council adjoining Mrs X’s property.
7. Ivy growing in a privately owned garden crept across the garage roofs and onto Ms X’s property.
8. The Council cleared the ivy from the garages. Ms X believes it should also clear the ivy from her property and repair any damage. She says she cannot do so as the garages prevent her accessing the wall with the ivy. And the garage roofs contain asbestos.
9. Ms X wants the Ombudsman to direct the Council to clear the ivy from her property and carry out any repairs.
10. The Council has said it will not consider Ms X’s complaint any further under its complaints process.
11. The role of the Ombudsman is to look for administrative fault. But the issue at the heart of Ms X’s complaint is damage to her property – effectively due to the alleged negligence of the Council. The Ombudsman cannot establish liability in such matters, which are for the Council’s insurers, and ultimately, the courts.
12. Ms X can make a claim on the Council’s insurance. If the insurers reject a formal claim, it is open to her to make a claim in court. The Court can then decide if the Council has been negligent, if it should pay damages, and if any further remedial work is needed. These are not decisions for the Ombudsman.
13. Mrs X also complains about delays and failures by the Council to respond to her enquiries and complaints. While we would expect the Council to respond according to its complaints policy, I do not propose to investigate this issue further.
14. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about failures and delays to communicate promptly, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

15. I will not investigate this complaint. We cannot decide whether the Council is responsible for removing the ivy and repairing Ms X’s property. This is a matter for the Council’s insurers or ultimately, for the courts.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman