Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to maintain trees at the rear of Miss X’s property. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the large trees at the rear of her property have not been maintained by the Council meaning branches, leaves and birds/bird droppings fall onto her property.
2. Miss X has also raised concerns regarding the length of time it has taken to deal with her complaint.
3. Miss X feels the Council should maintain the trees in line with her wishes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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

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. Miss X purchased her property, which has a small, wooded area with large mature trees at the rear several years ago. The trees were already in place at the time and she should therefore have been aware there may be leaves, fallen branches and bird droppings falling into and around her property.
8. In response to Miss X’s complaints the Council completed an assessment of the trees in 2021 and carried out some maintenance work at that time. The Council inspected the trees again in 2023 and decided not to carry out any further works in line with its policy. There is no obligation on the Council to remove or reduce the height of the trees as Miss X wishes and there is not enough evidence of fault in its decision not to carry out further works.
9. The Council’s response to Miss X’s complaint outlines the steps she can take to reduce any overhanging branches into her property, and this is an option which remains available to her.
10. Miss X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint.  But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about.  We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman