Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that recent repairs the Council made to the dropped kerb outside his house are causing damage to vehicles entering and leaving his property. This is because Mr X can take court action for the damage he alleges and it would be reasonable for him to do this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains recent repairs the Council made to the dropped kerb outside his house are causing damage to vehicles entering and leaving his property. He says the Council will not make the repairs safe or give him permission to do so. He says the Council has not explained to him why it thinks the kerb is safe and does not accept that the kerb has caused damage. He also says the Council took too long to respond to his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Mr X in his complaint and the information provide by the Council in response to my request.
5. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Mr X. I considered his comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

6. The dropped kerb outside Mr X’s home was repaired by the Council.
7. Mr X says the repair by the Council made the dropped kerb unsafe because the repair is too high. He says this damages vehicles accessing his property because the repair hits the underside of vehicles.
8. Two highway inspectors from the Council inspected the kerb and decided the kerb is not unsafe. As a result, the Council refused to change the repair or allow Mr X to do so. Mr X disagrees and says the Council will not provide him with copies of the inspection reports.
9. Mr X also says the Council took too long to consider his complaint.

Analysis

10. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. If Mr X believes the Council was negligent when it made the repair and caused damage to his vehicle, he can take court action for negligence.
11. We have discretion to set aside this rule where we decide there are good reasons. I have decided not to exercise discretion in this case because:
• Negligence claims are generally best left to the courts to decide; and
• It is reasonable to expect Mr X to pursue the damage through the courts.
12. Although the Council took longer than it promised to reply to Mr X’s complaint, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X can take court action for the damage he alleges and it would be reasonable for him to do this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman