Brighton & Hove City Council (24 021 137)

Category : Environment and regulation > Trees

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 16 Apr 2025

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about damage caused by a Council owned tree and a personal injury claim for her child, Y. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs X to take the matter to court.

The complaint

  1. Mrs X complained a Council owned tree caused damage to her fence and failed to provide a full financial remedy.
  2. Mrs X said the matter caused her distress. She said it affected her child, Y, who has Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and their ability to access their garden.
  3. Mrs X wants the Council to pay compensation to Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  2. 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

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. Mrs X complained a Council owned tree caused damage to her fence. She said the Council accepted her claim for damage caused to the fence. However, she said it failed to consider the impact on her child, Y. Mrs X wants the Council to pay compensation to Y.
  2. The Council wrote to Mrs X and explained a court would need to determine any personal injury claim.
  3. We will not investigate this complaint. The role of the Ombudsman is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide liability in complaints about damage to property or personal injury claims, only the courts can do this.
  4. Because the Ombudsman cannot determine personal injury claims, and because the Ombudsman has no authority to award compensation, it is reasonable for Mrs X to take the matter to court, and we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to take the matters complained about to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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