Devon County Council (20 011 502)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 16-Aug-2021
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to maintain the drains along the road outside her home since March 2018. The Council failed to inspect the drains near Mrs X's home in line with its own policies and did not respond to Mrs X's complaint about grit and grit bins. This caused Mrs X avoidable frustration. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X, provide information about grit bins and review its drainage inspection process. This was a suitable remedy so we completed our investigation.
Lincolnshire County Council (20 010 644)
Statement Not upheld Highway repair and maintenance 09-Aug-2021
Summary: Ms B complained the Council had not followed Government guidance when deciding on speed limits generally and in particular in the village where she lives. She said that as a result vehicles travel at high speeds in the village which is dangerous. This is particularly the case on the stretches of road where there are no pavements. There was no fault by the Council.
City of Wolverhampton Council (20 006 710)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 02-Aug-2021
Summary: Mr C complains about the Council granting a licence to a contractor to lay cabling at night in a residential area. When he complained, the Council's responses minimised the extent of his family's distress. The Ombudsman upholds the complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendation.
Wakefield City Council (20 010 996)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 16-Jul-2021
Summary: Mr B complained that the Council had failed to respond properly to his attempts to find out whether he could construct a safe access from the nearest road to his property. We find the Council could have responded more fully in early 2021, but we consider that Mr B could have established the difficulties with access when he purchased the property and should seek legal advice to resolve the situation now.
Manchester City Council (20 008 501)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 19-Apr-2021
Summary: There was fault in the Council's communication in response to a request for a pothole to be repaired. The Council told Mr X three times that it would complete a repair by a certain date and failed to keep to the promise. Mr X's complaints about possible damage to his car have not been investigated, as he is able to pursue a claim through the courts. An apology by the Council is a satisfactory remedy to his stress and time and trouble in chasing up the repair. The pothole repair has now been completed.
Havant Borough Council (20 005 923)
Statement Not upheld Highway repair and maintenance 01-Apr-2021
Summary: Ms Y complains about the Council's response to her claim for damage caused to her car while using one of its car parks. The Ombudsman has discontinued the investigation into the complaint because we consider it is reasonable for Ms Y to use the available legal remedy.
Lancashire County Council (20 005 549)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 08-Mar-2021
Summary: Mr D complained the Council had not maintained a Traffic Regulation Order and failed to specify the required standard of road resurfacing to its contractor for a highway near his home. He also said the Council failed to respond properly to his complaint. As a result, Mr D says he experienced distress and his safety was at risk when exiting onto the highway. The Council was at fault for failing to maintain its Traffic Regulation Order, but this did not cause a personal injustice to Mr D. There was also fault in its failure to respond properly to his complaint. The delay and uncertainty from this caused Mr D some distress. There was no evidence of fault on the road resurfacing matter. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr D to acknowledge the distress caused.
City of York Council (20 004 703)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 19-Feb-2021
Summary: Mr B complained that when work was undertaken on a public right of way, he was unable to use the advertised diversion. Mr B said he was stressed and inconvenienced by the actions of the Council because he was unable to use the diversions. Mr B said the Council breached the Equality Act 2010 because it did not consider the needs of disabled road users. We did not find fault with how the Council co-ordinated the diversion. We did find found fault with the Council's complaint handling. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B to remedy the injustice caused.
Staffordshire County Council (19 020 198)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 18-Feb-2021
Summary: Mr X complains the Council has failed to resolve the problem of flooding on the highway outside his house. And failed to respond to his complaints. We do not intend to investigate this complaint as we are satisfied with the action the Council proposes to take to reduce the flooding. We do not consider an investigation of the failures in the complaints procedure alone to be a good use of our resources.
London Borough of Croydon (19 014 642)
Statement Upheld Highway repair and maintenance 16-Feb-2021
Summary: The Council did not implement the remedy it agreed with the Ombudsman during a previous complaint about flooding on the road where the complainant lives. But the Council took action which has resolved the outstanding issue and no further action by the Ombudsman is needed.