Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled concerns about a hedge. This is because we have decided any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council informed her the hedge at the boundary of her property was causing an obstruction to the footpath. Mrs X disputed the hedge was overgrown. Mrs X later arranged for the hedge to be trimmed. She says this has caused her injustice because she has been singled out and she had to pay a contractor to trim the hedge. Mrs X would like the Council to reimburse her the money she spent on getting the hedge trimmed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. People may complain to us about injustice caused by:
• ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ by a public organisation we could investigate; or
• the actions of an organisation in connection with privately arranged adult social care.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1) or section 34C(1)(a)).

3. 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), or section 34B(8)).
4. We will not normally investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), or section 34B(8)).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The evidence shows Mrs X complained to the Council because she did not think the postcard notifying her of the overgrown hedge was genuine.
8. The Council confirmed it had issued the postcard to Mrs X following an inspection in February 2026. Then in July 2026, Mrs X confirmed to the Council she had arranged and paid for the hedge to be trimmed. The Council did not issue an enforcement notice, nor did it carry out the works and recharge Mrs X.
9. The law means we can choose only to investigate a complaint where the person has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the body complained about. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
10. I recognise the circumstances of Mrs X’s complaint have affected her, but this is not significant enough to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman