Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has failed to cut back a tree close to his property. This is because his complaint is made late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has failed to cut back a tree that overhangs his garden. Mr X says the tree has caused damage to his property and drops debris into his garden.

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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 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has been aware of the issues he has raised for several years, and I see no good reason why he could not have complained to us sooner.
8. Furthermore, we cannot determine whether the Council is legally liable for damage or whether it should pay compensation, as only a court can decide these matters. It is therefore reasonable for Mr X to pursue any damage to his property through the Council’s insurers or the courts.
9. Mr X also complains about debris such as leaves falling into his garden. Whilst I accept that this may be an inconvenience, I do not consider that this causes him a significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman