West Sussex County Council (19 010 140)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 30 Oct 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about injuries he sustained after tripping over a stopcock cover in the street. The Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks which is compensation for his injuries.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, seeks compensation after falling over a stopcock cover in the street.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X tripped over a stopcock cover in the street and seeks compensation. The stopcock cover is owned by a water company. It has denied liability for Mr X’s accident explaining that the Council, who has a duty to carry out inspections of the street (highway), did not notify it of any defects.
- The Council has advised Mr X it adhered to its highway maintenance programme and that he needs to pursue his claim with the water company.
Analysis
- The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate the water company as it is not a body within our jurisdiction.
- We could not in any case determine whether it is liable to pay compensation for Mr X’s injuries as only the courts can do this. There is a simple procedure open to anyone to make a money claim through the courts or Mr X could consider using a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor to pursue his claim.
- We would not investigate the Council’s involvement in this matter as the appropriate route for Mr X to achieve the outcome he seeks is via legal action. We cannot achieve Mr X’s desired outcome of a compensation award.
Final decision
- My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman