North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (25 009 188)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council pruned his hedge without telling him. We could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council pruned his hedge without first telling him. Mr X says he has already been the victim of vandalism and anti-social behaviour and this now makes it easier for people to access his property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council received reports that a hedge on Mr X’s property was overgrown. An officer attended the site and pruned the hedge.
- In responding to Mr X’s complaint, the Council accepted that the officer should have written to Mr X to ask him to carry out work to the hedge and should not have carried out the work themselves. The Council apologised to Mr X for the distress this caused and reminded staff of the correct process to follow.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council upheld his complaint, apologised, and has taken steps to ensure the same error doesn’t reoccur.
- Mr X says he is at greater risk of vandalism and anti-social behaviour due to the Council’s actions. But this is speculative, and I note that Mr X says he suffered from anti-social behaviour prior to the pruning of the hedge.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman