Summary: Mrs B complains that the Council did not deal properly with the reconstruction of a footway crossing outside her home. The Council was at fault because it did not give Mrs B the required notice that it was going to carry out work. Mrs B suffered inconvenience because she had no proper access to her home. The Council has apologised to Mrs B and taken action to ensure the correct notice is given for all future works. This is a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs B, complains that the Council did not deal properly with the reconstruction of a footway crossing outside her home.
2. Mrs B remains unhappy because:
• she did not receive notice that the Council was going to do the works.
• access to her home was blocked while construction work was completed.
• new bollards were placed outside her home which make it difficult for her to access her driveway.
• her telephone complaints were handled in a rude manner.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have spoken to Mrs B about her complaint and considered the information she has provided to the Ombudsman. I have also considered the Council’s response to her complaint and its response to my enquiries.
6. I have written to Mrs B and the Council with my draft decision and given them an opportunity to comment. I have taken account of comments received.

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What I found

What happened

7. The Council decided to reconstruct the footway crossing outside Mrs B’s home and install additional bollards by the road.
8. The Council’s contractor did not complete the work in one day due to the weather. Barriers were left around the work site which blocked access to Mrs B’s home.
9. Mrs B telephoned the Council about the lack of access to her home. The next day the Council said it instructed contractors to make sure Mrs B had safe access to her house. The barriers were not moved to allow access.
10. Mrs B telephoned the Council again about the problem and the barriers were relocated giving safe walking access at the end of the next day.

Mrs B’s complaint

11. Mrs B complained to the Council about the inconvenience she suffered because of the lack of access to her home, the installation of the bollards and the way Council officers spoke to her when she telephoned it about the problem.
12. The Council responded to Mrs B’s complaint. It apologised to Mrs B for the lack of notice about the work and said it was taking the matter up with its contractor to ensure the problem didn’t happen again. It noted the footway crossing was wider than before and invited Mrs B to get in touch about the bollards if she had difficulty using her driveway. The Council said it was unable to come to a conclusion about how she had been spoken to on the telephone.

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Analysis

Notice of the work and access to Mrs B’s home

13. The Council accepts it did not deliver any letters to Mrs B giving her advance warning of the work.
14. Photographs of the barriers around the footway works clearly show that there was no safe access to Mrs B’s home apart from stepping over a small brick wall. This is fault by the Council. Mrs B had to climb over a low wall to gain access to her home.

Installation of bollards

15. The Council says it considered that installing bollards, along with widening the footway crossing, was necessary in order to repair and protect against future damage to, the public highway.
16. Photographic evidence shows that the highway was already suffering damage in 2018. Photographs provided by Mrs B also show that the reconstructed footway crossing with bollards is wider where it meets the road than it was previously. This is not fault by the Council.

Telephone contact with the Council

17. I am unable to reach a decision about how Mrs B’s telephone complaints were handled because recordings of the telephone calls do not exist.

What has the Council done?

18. The Council has apologised to Mrs B for the lack of notice, has taken action to ensure the correct notice is given for future work and has offered to engage with Mrs B about any problems caused by the new bollards.

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Final decision

19. I have found that the Council was at fault in the way it dealt with the reconstruction of a footway outside Mrs B’s home. However, there is no outstanding injustice to Mrs B because the Council has apologised, has taken action to ensure the correct notice is given for future works and has offered to discuss any problems caused by the new bollards. This is a suitable remedy.
20. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman