Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not taking action to ensure the maintenance of land subject to a Section 106 agreement. This is because the claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement and we could not achieve more than the Council is already doing.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council has failed to ensure the maintenance and management responsibilities set out in a Section 106 agreement for land near his home are carried out. He says the area is in disrepair.

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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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
  (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council that land close to his property is not being maintained by the landowner. The land is subject to a Section 106 agreement which requires it to be maintained. He says the Council has promised to act, but there has been no progress.
6. The Council said it had written to the landowner but did not receive a response. It says it is now progressing the arbitration process set out in the Section 106 agreement to resolve the matter.
7. Mr X says the land is overgrown and in a state of disrepair. While I acknowledge Mr X’s frustration around the matter, I have decided it has not caused him a significant enough personal injustice to warrant an investigation.
8. It is also unlikely the Council has power simply to go onto the land and carry out work as Mr X would like because it does not own the land. We could not therefore recommend it carry out work in default when there is a contractual process it needs to follow to resolve the dispute.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant our involvement and we could not achieve more than the Council is already doing.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman