Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to drainage problems on land next to Ms X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to resolve problems with waterlogging of neighbouring land which she says is affecting her garden. She wants the Council to prevent further problems which could affect the stability of her home.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X says she has been complaining about waterlogging of the hillside next to her home since 2021. She is concerned that waterlogging of the land is also affecting her garden and that if it continues her home may be destabilised. The Council investigated her concerns in 2021 and found the area of the land affected by waterlogging was limited and not a concern.
7. Ms X reported it again in 2023 following heavy rain and again the Council investigated. This time it noted that the land was more affected and that landowners may have diverted a broken culvert which was affecting the area where Ms X lives. It made enquiries of the water utility company but it did not provide any conclusive information.
8. Further concerns about the land led to the Council making requests to the utility company at the highest level for it to carry out investigations. The Council says that in September the utility company confirmed that feeder pipes between two local reservoirs were leaking and that this was the likely cause of the ground water problems.
9. The responsibility for this infrastructure lies with the water utility company and this is monitored by the Environment Agency. Councils have a limited responsibility for land drainage and I can see no evidence here that the Council failed to investigate Mrs X’s complaint. We will not consider the complaints which Ms X made to the Council in 2021 because it concerns matters she was aware of outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to drainage problems on land next to Ms X’s home. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman