Kent County Council (19 010 989)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Nov 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has cut back vegetation along the road where the complainant lives. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault causing injustice that would justify his involvement.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, says the Council has not properly trimmed the vegetation along the country lane on which he lives. He says this makes it difficult for members of his family to walk along the road.
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 an investigation if, for example, we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault;
- the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
- the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint which included the Council’s response to his concerns. I have discussed the complaint with Mr B and he commented on a draft before I made this decision.
What I found
- Mr B contacted the Council in June 2019 to complain it had not cut back the vegetation along the lane where he lives. The Council carried out the work in early July as part of its county-wide programme.
- Mr B was unhappy with the standard of the cut. However, the Council has inspected and is satisfied with the work carried out by its contractors. It identified some issues with privately-owned hedges which it would seek to address with the owners.
Final decision
- While I recognise Mr B remains unhappy with the work carried out by the Council, I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council has caused Mr B injustice that would warrant our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman