Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out works to highway trees. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that the Council has unreasonably refused her request for the pollarding of highway trees.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s complaint relates to two highway trees close to her home. She says the trees are too tall and interfere with utility cables. She says leaf and branch fall causes nuisance and risk to people and property.
6. Mrs X has made repeated requests to the Council to carry out pollarding work to address the problems caused by the trees. The Council has refused. It holds that the work is unnecessary. It is against this decision that Mrs X complains.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part. Mrs X and the Council disagree on whether the trees require work. It is not for us to take a view. Rather, it is to consider whether there is evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision. There is no such evidence.
8. The Council has inspected the trees and clearly set out its findings in the context of the relevant policies. Its conclusion that works are not required is a matter for the professional judgement of the officers concerned. Without evidence of fault in the way the decision was made the Ombudsman cannot intervene to criticise it, or to substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman