Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to remove a tree from the garden of the property it owns and where she lives, and how it dealt with her complaint. There is not enough evidence of Council fault to warrant us investigating. We also cannot achieve the core outcome she seeks. We do not investigate councils’ complaint handling where we are not investigating the key issue giving rise to the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X rents and lives in a property owned by the Council. There is a large tree in the front garden. Miss X complains the Council:
1. has not considered the tree’s impacts on her when deciding to only do limited pruning work to the tree;
2. has refused to share its tree inspection report;
3. did not deal with her complaint fairly or reasonably.
2. Miss X says the tree has caused paint damage to her car due to droppings from birds on its branches. She says her insurance costs at the property are increased due to flood and other risks caused by the tree, and it worsens her son's hay fever.
3. Miss X wants the Council to:
• arrange an independent inspection of the tree and give her a copy of its findings;
• consider either removing the tree or carrying out a much more substantial reduction than the planned thinning of the crown;
• offer compensation for the delay, stress, and inconvenience;
• compensate her for the damage to her car paintwork, cleaning costs, and financial hardship.
4. At the time of her complaint Miss X also wanted the Council to do the work before December 2025, which would not now be achievable.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
6. 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
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information from Miss X, relevant online maps and images, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation has followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, even if someone disagrees with it.
9. The core issue which caused Miss X to contact the Council was the impacts of the tree in her garden. On receiving Miss X’s concerns, the Council considered the information it had about the tree. They sent their tree officer to inspect the tree. Officers found the tree needed some maintenance work, a thinning of its crown, which they placed on to their schedule of works. The Council found the tree to be in reasonable health and appropriate for its location so did not agree to remove it. Officers explained they would only consider felling a tree in exceptional circumstances, such as extreme weather damage. They found the impacts of the tree reported by Miss X, caused by natural processes such as falling debris and roosting birds, did not give them grounds to remove the tree. Based on the Council’s complaint replies, officers could have explained in more detail that its approach to the management of its trees does not require it to remove or significantly cut back a tree due to the impacts Miss X reported. But officers followed and applied that approach when making their decision.
10. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process around what works to do to the tree to warrant us investigating. The Council gathered and considered relevant evidence about the condition of the tree and applied its approach on tree management to reach the view that it would not remove it but would do some maintenance work. Those are decisions the Council was entitled to take. We recognise Miss X disagrees with the Council’s decision. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
11. Miss X says the core practical outcome she wants is for the Council to remove the tree or cut it back more severely than planned. We cannot order councils to fell trees or do additional works to them. That we cannot achieve this key outcome is a further reason why we will not investigate.
12. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint, including officers not sending her a copy of its tree inspection report. We do not investigate councils’ complaint handling in isolation where we are not investigating the core issues giving rise to the complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so we will not investigate this part of the complaint.
13. Miss X’s complaints refer to damage to her car which she considers has been caused by the Council’s tree. She seeks a remedy for this and the time, trouble and expense of dealing with it. This would be a claim of liability for damage. Only an insurer or the courts can decide such liability claims. We cannot determine legal liability disputes so will not investigate this part of the complaint. It would be for Miss X to make any damage claim she has against the Council relating to her property to its insurers. If Miss X is unhappy with the outcome of any Council insurance claim she makes, it would then be for her to take the matter in court.
14. Miss X also told the Council she was concerned the tree could damage the property it owns. The Council advised her to contact its housing department about any structural damage or insurance issues. These would be housing management matters for housing officers to consider. We do not have powers to investigate councils’ housing management complaints. If Miss X has concerns about the way the Council as her landlord is managing issues with the tree at her rental property, she would need to complain about this to the Council’s housing department. If she is dissatisfied with the outcome, she may wish to pursue this part of the complaint by referring it to the Housing Ombudsman.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process regarding works to the tree to warrant us investigating; and
• we cannot achieve the main outcome she seeks; and
• we do not investigate councils’ complaint handling where we are not investigating the core issues giving rise to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman