Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to do any repairs to the road outside Mr Q’s home. He may seek a remedy in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Mr Q, complained that Essex County Council (the Council) will not inspect and repair the road outside his home. He said heavy vehicles driving over the road cause vibrations in his home.

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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 have considered the information Mr Q provided. I invited Mr Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

5. Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980 says that a person may serve a notice on a highway authority requiring it to confirm it is responsible for maintaining a highway. If the highway authority disputes this or does not respond within one month, the person may apply to a crown court. The court will then determine if the highway authority is responsible for maintaining the highway and, if so, order the authority to repair the highway within a reasonable period. If a council does not dispute it is responsible for maintaining the highway the person can apply to a magistrates’ court.
6. Essex County Council is a highway authority.

Key facts

7. In 2017 the Council resurfaced the road outside Mr Q’s home. He complained to the Council about a poorly completed join in the road surface. The Council put a strip of tarmac over the join to flatten it out. This has not prevented vibrations in his home when heavy vehicles drive along the road.
8. The Council said it had inspected the road and could not find any defects. Mr Q does not believe the Council inspected the road. He would like it to do so now and to resurface or reconstruct it.

Analysis

9. We will not investigate this complaint.
10. Mr Q is, in effect, saying the Council has failed to properly maintain the road outside his home. The Council denies there are any defects with the road.
11. The Council has accepted it is responsible for maintaining the road. So Mr Q may take his complaint to the Magistrates’ Court. It would then be for the Court to decide what repairs, if any, the Council should do and set a timescale for the work.
12. I think it would be reasonable for Mr Q to go to the Magistrates’ Court if he believes the Council is failing to maintain the road outside his home. This is because the Court has powers to require the Council to carry out repairs. We do not have the power to do so.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr Q may go to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman