Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of its high hedges policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council’s high hedges policy carries a disproportionate cost for investigating a complaint, and about the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint about the matter.
2. Mr X says this has prevented him from complaining about a high hedge affecting his property.
3. Mr X wants the Council to properly consider his complaint.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. By law, a council can charge a fee for deciding complaints by the owners or occupiers of residential properties adversely affected by evergreen hedges over two metres high.
8. The law does not state what councils must charge as a fee, so the fee setting is at the discretion of each council.
9. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
10. As the fee the Council chooses to charge for high hedge complaint investigation is discretionary, there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council has carried out its policy to justify an investigation. Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
11. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman