Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to properly maintain verges and trees close to the complainants home. This is because there is no evidence of fault and any issue of liability for damage to the complainants property is a matter for insurers and the courts.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to carry out any maintenance to trees and verges on a road outside his property for the last six years, which pose a safety concern for road users, block his view of the road and has led to flooding which has damaged his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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)
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. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I will not investigate historic matters going back six years. This is because these matters are late, and I see no reason why Mr X could not have complained to the Council and then the Ombudsman sooner. For this reason, my assessment will be limited to the recent issues that Mr X has raised.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council’s actions have led to damage being caused to his property this is because issues of liability is a matter for insurers and then the courts.
9. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with his recent requests that overgrown trees and verges are maintained. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the matter. The Council carried out an inspection and concluded that it did not have a duty to cut trees to allow Mr X a view of the road. It did agree that some of the verges on the road needed to be maintained, and that a road closure would need to be put in place for this work to be carried out. The Council estimates that this will be done in early March 2022. Whilst Mr X disagrees with this approach this does not mean the Council has done anything wrong.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and the issue of damage to his property should be raised through insurers and the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman