Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled her concerns about tree planting on a development site. Any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly address or take action regarding her concerns about tree planting on a development site.
2. Mrs X said these issues caused her a loss of amenity as there were fewer trees in the local area. She was also concerned it may cause financial consequences for local residents in the future. Mrs X wanted the Council to:
• acknowledge its alleged fault;
• review its enforcement process; and
• provide assurances and take actions to ensure these issues will not reoccur.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly administer or escalate enforcement regarding like-for-like tree planting on a development site. She said this meant there were fewer trees in the area and she was concerned residents might bear financial consequences in the future.
7. We will not normally investigate a complaint unless there is good reason to believe the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the Council.
8. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where:
• the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the Council, or
• there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower-level injustice that remain unresolved over a long period of time.
9. We will not normally investigate a complaint where:
• the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter, or
• the complainant has suffered significant personal injustice, distress and loss, but those events cannot be shown to be directly the result of the actions or omissions of the Council.
10. In this instance Mrs X has said there are fewer trees in the area. This in itself, is not significant enough to justify investigation.
11. Mrs X is also concerned there may be a cost placed on residents in the future by the management company, this is a hypothetical injustice at this point. However, even if costs were incurred, it is unlikely we would be able to say it was a direct result of the actions or omissions of the Council.
12. The Council investigated Mrs X’s concerns and responded. It did not uphold her complaint, but it confirmed the following actions:
• the complaint review was carried out by its corporate team, which is an independent department;
• reports of tree failings have been reviewed by the Planning Enforcement team, and the developer is required to replace them;
• on new developments its enforcement officers will investigate the causes of repeated planting failures and seek expert advice when necessary; and
• planning enforcement officers will attempt to facilitate a tree-planting aftercare scheme on new developments.
13. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaint and took action within its power to mitigate the impact and prevent similar issues in the future. Investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve any further meaningful outcome, so we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify investigation, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman