Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to remove a tree nearby his property. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons why he did not complain sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to not remove a tree outside his property. He said the tree is causing damage to his property as well as to the public footpath. Mr X wants the Council to remove the tree.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In 2021, Mr X contacted the Council about a tree outside his property he had just moved into. He said the tree was large and causing problems such as blocking light to his property, damaging his driveway and causing the public footpath outside his property to become uneven. He said the tree was dangerous and asked the Council to remove it.
8. The Council responded to Mr X and said it would not remove the tree as it was healthy. It said it had recently inspected the tree and concluded it was not dangerous. It said it would prune the tree and fix the damage caused to the public footpath. The Council provided Mr X with the relevant information on how to submit a claim via its insurers in relation to any damage the tree may have caused to his property.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late. We expect people to complain to us after complaining to the council, within 12 months of them becoming aware of the matter complained of. Any complaint made after 12 months is late. There are no good reasons why Mr X did not complain to us sooner.
10. In any case, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council carried out an inspection of the tree and explained to Mr X why it could not remove the tree. We recognise Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision however, we cannot question the outcome if there was no fault with how the Council made its decision.
11. Furthermore, a further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council said it would reduce the size of the tree, fix any damage to the public footpath and advised Mr X to claim via its insurers for any damages to his property. This was appropriate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons why he did not complain sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman