Summary: Mr X complains the Council refuses to repair a road. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council refuses to repair the road where he owns a property. He says the road is part of a National Cycle Route and is dangerous to cyclists. He also says of the road is not repaired it will either become unusable or cause an accident.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 we would find fault
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council.

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What I found

5. Mr X owns a property which he lets to holiday makers. It is on a national cycle route. He complained to the Council about the poor road surface, saying it is dangerous and has damaged some of his guest’s cars.
6. A highways officer inspected the road. The Council is satisfied the road is an acceptable condition for a rural unclassified road with no traffic.
7. Mr X says he understands the Council’s Asset Management Team assesses the road as "No longer a road and cannot be patched”.
8. In response to my enquiries the Council has confirmed this is not the case. Its position is that it is a local access road and is subject to annual driven statutory inspections with more inspections if defects are reported.
9. It has also confirmed that when defects arise that require repair, the work will be done according to its highways maintenance plan (HMP)
10. It is for professional officers to decide whether the road needs immediate repair. The Ombudsman must consider whether there was fault in how the Council did this, not whether the decision was right or wrong. Without fault in the decision-making process, we cannot question the decision itself.
11. The Council’s HMP says it will assess the vulnerability of all highway users including cyclists and pedestrians when assessing a defect. The Council says it is satisfied the road is in an acceptable standard. It has also confirmed the road remains a local access road and will be inspected annually. While Mr X may disagree with the decision not to repair the road immediately, this does not make it wrong.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council decided not to make immediate repairs to the road.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman