Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to the parish council about highway maintenance and improvement issues. This is because Mrs X has raised the complaint as a member of the parish council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has failed to respond the parish council about several highway maintenance and improvement issues since September 2019.

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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. We can only accept complaints from members of the public or their authorised representatives. This means we cannot accept complaints from parish councils. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mrs X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with her and invited her comments.

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What I found

5. Mrs X is a member of the parish council. She complains the Council has not responded to the Parish Council’s enquiries about several highway maintenance and highway improvement matters which cause concern for the community.
6. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. The parish council is not a member of the public for the purposes of Section 26A of the Local Government Act 1974 (as amended). We cannot therefore investigate any complaint raised by or on behalf of the parish council.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we can only investigate complaints made by members of the public.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman