Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to properly maintain the highway. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint. It is late and the injustice claimed by Mr X is not sufficient to warrant exercising discretion in this case.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council took too long to clear a dangerous situation on a road which he had reported. He also says the Council lied, stating it had inspected the junction which needed no action. After more than 12 months the road surface was swept.

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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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X and copies of his complaints and the responses from the Council.
6. Mr X commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

7. Mr X is a motorcyclist. He says in May 2018 he reported a problem with the condition of a section of road which had been repaired by the Council’s contractors. He says the surface was dangerous to motorcyclists and had to use an alternative, longer route to avoid it. He says the Council failed to take any action for 2 years when it finally inspected the site and acknowledged there was a problem. It then put up slippery road signs and had it swept to clear the loose chippings.
8. Mr X wants closer control kept over contractors work and inspectors educated on specific dangers faced by motorcyclists. He also wants the Council to pay him £100 for the cost of the extra fuel he had to use because he was taking a longer route to avoid the section of road which he says was unsafe.

Assessment

9. The law says a complaint must be made to the Ombudsman within 12 months of the complainant becoming aware of the matter, unless there is a good reason not to do so.
10. Mr X was aware of the alleged road surface defect in May 2018. Therefore, his complaint to the Ombudsman is late.
11. In considering whether to exercise my discretion and investigate this late complaint I has considered the injustice claimed by Mr X. I understand it was inconvenient for him to repeatedly return section of road to gather evidence that it was unsafe. I also understand he says it cost him £100 more in fuel because he had to take a longer alternative route. However, I do not consider this is sufficient injustice to warrant exercising discretion and investigating this late complaint.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. It is late as Mr X was aware of the problem with the road surface more than 12 months ago. And I do not consider he has suffered sufficient personal injustice to warrant exercising my discretion in this case.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman