Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with overgrown ivy. Some of the complaint is late. With regard to the issues which are in time, either the courts are better placed to consider them, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X is unhappy with how the Council has dealt with overgrown ivy on the border of her property, which she says has damaged the fence. Ms X complains the Council has asked her to pay half of the cost of removal and repair. She would like the Council to pay in full and have a building surveyor check the work.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X owns a property which shares a boundary with a Council owned property. She is unhappy with how the Council has dealt with overgrown ivy. She says this has been a problem for years and has damaged the fence.
7. Much of Ms X’s complaint is late. This is because she complained to the Council about this issue in 2016 and was also aware she could bring a complaint to the Ombudsman at that time. I can see no good reason why she did not complain sooner. Therefore, we will only investigate any issues that happened in the 12 months before Ms X complained to us.
8. The Council has accepted there was some poor or delayed communications with Ms X and it did not proactively monitor the situation. The Council has apologised and made recommendations to prevent similar problems from happening again. We will not investigate this complaint as the Council’s actions are sufficient to remedy any injustice to Ms X.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints that the Council’s delays have worsened the damage to her fence or that it has said she must pay for half of the repairs. The Ombudsman cannot decide on the legal liability for repairs or negligence. These are matters for the courts and it would be reasonable for Ms X to pursue her claim in this manner.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we cannot investigate late complaints, it would be reasonable for Ms X to take some matters to the Courts and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman